Between Love and Hate
by Crazy4Wolverine
Summary: When an unlikely new pirate joins the Strawhat crew one green haired swordsman isn't willing to trust. Will his unhealed wounds coupled with her unforgiving past cause havock for the Strawhats? Or will Zoro find a way to save his crew?... And himself.
1. New Nakama

**Ok so it's my first One Piece fic. Hope you guys like it. It's basically my own twist on the events happening after Brook joins the crew and they leave Spa Island. Some of the events follow the story line of episodes 385 to 404 (Manga chapters 490ish to 512). Some of the same stuff is done, but there are a lot of differences and stuff between those chapters that I skip (plz don't get all mad at me for it =P) The third English dub opening song "Towards the Light" kinda inspired this fic. Also this does include my own version of a werewolf so don't complain about it being like what you think is a werewolf and all that. Thanks for reading and plz review. Oh and I unfortunately don't own Zoro or One Piece, but Reiko is my own character (as well as the rest of the werewolves in the story) Thanks =D ZoroxOC**

"talking"; _thoughts_

Chapter 1: New Nakama

The sun was shining gracefully and calmly on the Thousand Sunny. It was a good day for the Strawhats as they headed towards Fishman Island. The seas were calm and the crew was having a pretty relaxing day. Luffy and Chopper were sitting on the rail near the lion figurehead listening to one of Usopp's made up adventures. Nami was sitting on the grassy deck next to Robin at a small picnic table where she was drawing some of her maps and Robin was sipping her coffee and reading one of her many books. Sanji was working on lunch and putting in extra effort for the special meals he had prepared for Nami and Robin. Franky was below deck working on some new upgrades for both himself and the ship. Brook was sitting on the deck playing some nice music for the crew, and Zoro was snoring peacefully while lying on the deck near the stairs.

But something seemed out of place to the green haired swordsman and he abruptly awoke from his slumber. He sat up with a loud yawn and rubbed his eyes with the back of a droopy hand. Making sure his katana were all in place he stood up resting a hand on his fine blades. He walked around, his keen eyes taking every little detail in.

"Something wrong Swordsman-san?" asked Robin as she noticed he was awake.

"Nah, just thought something was up but it's nothing," he said looking out into the ocean.

Robin smiled contently and went back to reading her book. Zoro walked up to the rail of the ship and looked into the horizon. Suddenly he heard a thud and a high pitched voice made him wince.

"Zoro! You're up!" said Luffy giggling as he prepared to launch himself at Zoro. Zoro rolled his eyes and ducked as he heard Luffy say, "GomuGomu no Rocket!" Luffy's launch to catch Zoro missed and he ended up flying off of the ship laughing.

Usopp was sitting up rubbing his aching head after being pushed over by Luffy and Chopper ran up to where Zoro was crouching and looked at Luffy. Zoro stood up and did the same, frowning. Nami stood up with Robin and they walked to the rail followed by Brook.

"What the hell just happened?" asked Nami.

"That idiot just flung himself off of the ship damn it! Now we're gonna have to go after him," Zoro said sighing. But he was surprised when he didn't hear the splash of Luffy's body landing on the water. They all looked over the rail to see Luffy grabbing on to a girls neck. What shocked them the most was that she was grabbing on to the ship with what seemed to be shadows of some sort.

"Get off of me you jerk! Get your own ride!" she yelled while attempting to shake Luffy off. It only made him laugh harder. He stretched out his arm to grab onto the rail, while grabbing the girl with his other had, and then dragged himself and the girl onto the ship. As Luffy approached bringing the screaming girl with him he managed to miss his crew but unfortunately Zoro got body slammed by the girl and they both fell to the ground.

They could hear Luffy laughing saying, "That was soooo much fun! We should do it again"

"No way you idiot!" yelled Nami.

Zoro wasn't listening; he just stared at the girl on top of him. He noticed she had long red-brown hair and sprouting from under all her hair were two wolf-like ears. He felt something brush across his legs and saw that she also had a furry tail. When she finally pulled her face off his chest to look at him and apologize she noticed him staring at her and she blushed, hastily looking away and getting off of him.

"Sorry about that," she muttered.

"Yeah," he answered as he dusted himself off and looked over to Luffy who was getting yelled at by Nami.

Sanji walked out of the kitchen angrily. "What the hell is all that noise? Can't you just be a little patient Luffy?" he yelled at them, when all of a sudden he noticed the new girl on board. His eyes turned into hearts and he quickly ran towards her saying, "Well who might you be my dear? What is such a beautiful woman doing around a lug head like this?" he asked, referring to Zoro.

Zoro just rolled his eyes as the girl giggled. Nami quit scolding Luffy to turn and face the new girl, as did everyone else on deck. The girl noticed everyone's eyes on her and she blushed again but cleared her throat and began introducing herself.

"I'm Reiko and I'm a pirate!" was all she could think to say.

"Great to meet you Reiko! I'm Luffy and we're pirates too. I'm the captain of this ship!" Luffy said joyfully.

Reiko looked at him questioningly but Nami gave a quick nod of reassurance and walked to her side. "It's nice to meet you Reiko. Like Luffy said, we're pirates too. I'm Nami the navigator; this is Sanji our cook; Chopper our doctor; Robin our archeologist; Usopp our marksman; Brook our musician; Zoro our swordsman and first mate; and Franky our shipwright is under working on some stuff," Nami said, introducing each and every crew member. They all waved a happy hello and greeting when Nami mentioned them, except Zoro who just glanced at her and nodded slightly at his name.

Reiko looked at the crew and said "Wow, you're definitely the weirdest pirate crew I ever met." She walked over to Chopper and started poking at his horns. "So you're like a talking reindeer right? That's pretty cool," she said continuously poking him.

"Shut-up you jerk! You think that makes me happy! I'm not falling for it you big meanie!" he said dancing and prancing around.

"He looks pretty happy to me, is that just me?" asked Reiko.

"No he always does that just ignore him," said Nami brushing Chopper away.

Reiko smiled at Chopper and then turned around. What she saw made her ears perk up and her tail wag vigorously. She ran up to Brook eyeing him evilly.

"Whoa! You're made of bones!" she happily commented. "Can you detach and reattach your bones?" she asked anxiously.

"Why no I don't believe I can," he quickly muttered.

Reiko's ears and tail slumped as she slightly frowned. "Oh ok."

Zoro seemed to be the only one to notice the new girl's strangeness. He saw her look at the entire crew as she said "Yep. You guys are a bunch of freaks."

Zoro, Usopp and Nami all looked at her with astonished and angered eyes and pointed teeth as they yelled in unison, "What the hell are you talking about?"

Reiko crossed her arms over her chest and shook her head slightly. "Well it's as plain as the sky's blue. Your captain is a rubber man, your doctor is a reindeer, and your musician is a skeleton."

"So?' asked Usopp.

"So… You have a freakishly long nose," she said pointing to Usopp. She pointed to Zoro. "You have green hair and three swords instead of one." She pointed to Robin. "You have had a huge bounty on your head since you were a kid plus you've eaten a devil fruit like your captain, doctor and musician." She pointed at Sanji. "Your eyebrows are funny. And you…" she said pointing to Nami. "Well you seem pretty normal."

"What!" yelled Zoro and Usopp in unison.

Nami smiled and said, "Well I am the only normal one on this crew."

Zoro rolled his eyes and then said, "Either way, you shouldn't be one to judge on weirdness."

"What are you talking about Zoro?" asked Nami. She and all the other crewmembers gave him a confused look.

"Oh come on! I can't possibly be the only one who's noticed." His crewmate's expressions did not change. "Ugh fine! Just look at her! She's got those things on her head," he said pointing to her ears. Everyone looked and their eyes widened.

When Nami saw her, she freaked and jumped back. Pointing with a trembling hand at Reiko's head she asked, "W-what are those?" Reiko's ears twitched as she referred to them and Nami squealed.

"What? They're just ears. You guys have them too."

"Yeah, but not like that!" she said still pointing to the wolf ears.

"They're not that different. See, I've even got an earring in one," she said as she showed everyone the small gold hoop in her left ear.

"So cool!" Luffy yelled. He then sprung towards Reiko and latched his legs around her waits and started slightly tugging on her ears to make sure they were real. "It's like a pirate earring!"

"That's cuz I am a pirate stupid," she muttered while trying to push him away.

"She's got a freakin' tail too if you haven't noticed it yet," said Zoro.

"Really?" asked Luffy.

"Yeah, see," said Reiko, turning around waging her tail so the Strawhats could see.

Luffy looked over her shoulder and his eyes widened as he laughed and stretched his arm to grab her tail. "It's so soft," he said happily.

Reiko said something, but it was inaudible since Luffy's chest was smothered against her face. Sanji quickly walked up to them and viciously kicked Luffy off of Reiko.

"Ignore those bastards. You look beautiful Reiko-chan," he said while holding his cigarette in one hand and her hand in the other as he bent down to kiss it gently.

She smiled and said, "Thank you… uh…"

"Sanji," he said smoothly.

"Well thank you Sanji. At least someone is nice around here."

"It's my pleasure."

"So why do you have such freaky ears? Did you eat a devil fruit or something?" asked Usopp; his knees slightly shaking.

"Well I did eat a devil fruit but it's got nothing to do with my ears or my tail. I've had those all my life. See I'm a werewolf from the Silverfang Tribe on Lunar Island."

"I've heard of that place. It's an island shaped like a crescent moon right?" asked Nami.

"Yes. The island is inhabited by several werewolf tribes, and I believe that the dominant two are at war. One is your tribe isn't it?" Robin asked Reiko.

"Yeah. The other is the Bloodclaw tribe. They were at war when I left the island after I ate the ShadeShade fruit. It gives me the power to manipulate my shadow in anyway I choose. Like making it into a solid platform I can ride," she said and then quickly demonstrated.

She sat down cross-legged and her shadow became a perfect circle under her. She shut her eyes and the shadow lifted off of the ground and rose, with her sitting on top of it a few feet off the ground.

"Whoa!" said Chopper, Usopp, Luffy, and Brook in unison. She opened her eyes, smiled, and jumped off as her shadow returned to normal.

"That was so awesome Reiko!" commented Chopper.

"Thanks."

"So why did you leave your island?" asked Luffy.

"I left so I could pursue my dream. I have to find the legendary Silver Stone. It's said to have been part of Gol D. Roger's One Piece. So that's why I'm here on the Grand Line to find the One Piece and get the stone."

Luffy giggled happily. "Then you would be perfect member of our crew! I'm gonna find the One Piece and become King of the Pirates."

Reiko blushed slightly and said, "Well if it's ok with the rest of the crew."

Luffy looked at each of his crewmates.

"Yeah, why not? She's as weird as the rest of you," said Nami sighing.

"If you believe it's the right choice Captain-san," said Robin smiling kindly.

"Of course! Reiko-chan would be the best Nakama!" said Sanji with hearts in his eyes.

"Yeah, I like her," said Chopper innocently.

"Sure," said Usopp giving Luffy a thumbs up.

"Yes of course," said Brook.

Zoro didn't say anything, but looked at Reiko suspiciously.

"Zoro?" asked Luffy.

The swordsman eyed his captain and sighed. "Whatever," he muttered walking away.

Luffy jumped into the air joyfully. "Yeah! That means your part of our crew! So awesome!"

Reiko smiled and laughed. "I've never been part of a pirate crew before."

"Well now your part of the best!" said Luffy.

"I'll go make you something to eat. It's almost lunch anyway," said Sanji.

"Yay! Meat!" said Luffy. Sanji rolled his eyes and walked into the kitchen.

Reiko watched as everyone went back to what they had been doing before. Suddenly Franky came up to the deck since he had smelled Sanji's cooking.

"Is the food ready yet?" he asked. Then he suddenly noticed Reiko standing in front of him waving innocently. "Hey who's that?"

"I'm Reiko, a werewolf who ate the ShadeShade fruit. I'm also a new member of the crew."

"Oh sweet. Well I'm Franky the shipwright and I'm a Cyborg if you haven't already noticed."

Reiko giggled. "Just what I'd expect from this crew." Franky raised a questioning brow. "Never mind," Reiko said smiling and Franky nodded and went to talk to Usopp about his recent repairs.

Reiko looked around the deck observing everyone, but couldn't help but find herself watching Zoro. He was lifting his heavy weights while looking out into the horizon. He didn't seem like he was having a hard time with them, more like he was just passing the time. She didn't know why but for some reason she found him extremely intriguing. She knew he didn't like nor trust her, but that only made her even more interested in him. She had little doubt that the others would tell her almost everything about their past adventures without a question, but Zoro was a man of mystery who wouldn't even tell her his style of fighting. She smirked at the challenge that faced her. _I'll figure you out Roronoa Zoro. Just you wait._ Suddenly Luffy and Chopper called her over.

"Oi, Reiko! Show us what a werewolf looks like! I wanna know!" called Luffy. Reiko smiled, nodded, and ran to them.

**So I hope you guys liked it! The next chapter will probably be up next weekend, unless nobody likes it. Syke! It will be up even if everyone hates it cuz I love it so HA! Please review, I love to see comments people make (both good and bad so that way I can get better). Also this was a slow start but I promise the whole story will not be like this. It will definitely get lots of action and some angsty stuff. But yeah it's getting there I promise. Tell me what you think about Reiko. I'm sure you'll get to know her better in the upcoming chapters. The way I see it a new chapter every weekend, so please review! **


	2. First Impressions

**5 Reviews! YAY! So I know that's probably not a lot but for my first fic I feel really good about this. Plus they were all good reviews so here's the next chapter hope yawl like it! Yay! Though I did mean to have it up earlier but it's ok because I made it up by making this chapter lots longer than the last! So I hope you guys like this chapter lots****. PLZ REVIEW!**

Chapter Two: First Impressions

Luffy and Chopper fidgeted nervously as they anxiously awaited Reiko's transformation. She smirked as she watched their slight movements of desperation, her predatory instincts taking effect.

"Ok, here it goes. First I'm just going to turn into a wolf," she said watching Luffy, Chopper, and Brook; who had just sat down to observe.

A toothy grin spread across her face as red-brown fur grew across her body, taking the place of her clothes. She dropped down to all fours and her vision turned grey. She barked playfully, making Brook tremble with fear, Luffy giggle, and Chopper come up to pet her tenderly.

"You're just like me!" he said turning from his regular form to his reindeer form, to his humanoid form, and then back to his normal form.

"Yeah, kinda," she said, still in wolf form making Brook jump. "Now here's my werewolf form."

She turned back to normal and then closed her eyes, needing to focus since it was daylight. Her brownish fur sprouted again but this time, instead of dropping to all fours, she grew a foot and a half taller, her muscles got bigger and stronger, her feet turned into paws and her legs becoming more animalistic. Her hands grew larger with padding on her paws. Her nails became claws and her teeth fangs. Her ears became pointed and more alert, and her tail thicker and longer. Her face began to take a muzzle-like form and they could hear the bottoms of her pants ripping and the top of her baggy white flannel stretching. She opened her eyes, which glowed deep yellow, as a deep grumble escaped her throat. Brook and Chopper were cowering behind Luffy, who was staring in awe.

"Sorry Chopper, Brook. I didn't mean to scare you. There's no need to be worried, I've got full control of myself in this form," she said grinning wildly, exposing all her sharp and large teeth. This only made Chopper and Brook quiver more rapidly. She thought for a moment and said. "Really there's nothing to be afraid of. This is just like your humanoid form Chopper. And you're a living skeleton Brook. So I don't know why you would need to be scared. I wasn't scared of you guys when we met."

"Yeah, I guess you're right," said Chopper coming out from behind Luffy, who was now watching Reiko's tail wag with much enjoyment.

Chopper was now morphed into his humanoid form and stood in front of Reiko smiling. She gave him a toothy grin again and put her clawed hand out towards him. He took it in his own and tightly squeezed as a mark of their new found friendship.

Brook then came out too and looked at Reiko carefully and said, "When you turned into a wolf your clothes became a part of you, but when you turn into this form they don't."

"Yeah, unlike Chopper, my clothes don't change form with my body. When I turn into a wolf they just turn into fur but for some reason they don't in this form. That's why I don't wear shoes, and my clothes are kinda baggy."

"Wow! You're so weird," said Luffy finally paying attention to her words instead of her features.

"You're one to talk," Reiko muttered morphing back into her normal form.

"So you can fight in that werewolf form plus you ate a devil fruit?" he asked as if he had heard nothing that had come out of her mouth.

"Yup. But I still need to work on my shadow powers. I really don't have them mastered too much. I need a lot of focus to make it solid, but I can handle it for the most part, unless, of course, I use all of my shadow at once. Like when I make the floating platform that I showed you guys before." She quickly made it once more and floated around the crews heads. "If I were to get hit or distracted, or if something unexpected were to touch my shadow or myself then I would probably loose focus and my shadow would go back to normal, meaning that I would fall to the ground," she stated matter-of-factly.

"Ooohh! You mean like this?" asked Luffy, immediately grabbing the dark platform.

"Yeah Luffy, just like that, wait… NO!" she said realizing she was hovering over the railing.

Her shadow immediately disappeared and she fell overboard, dropping into the ocean below.

"Woops," said Luffy looking over board at the frantic Reiko just as she dropped into the water. The all the heard the loud splash which triggered Chopper and Brook to jump after her. But strong hands grabbed them by the collar and flung them back onto the deck. Zoro shoved his swords into Luffy's hands and dived into the water after Reiko.

x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x

Reiko sunk like a stone to the bottom of the sea. Her hands covered her mouth as she tried not to let any more air escape her lungs, but she was sinking fast and her vision was darkening around the edges. She tried to struggle but her body made no movement what so ever, refusing every command her mind could give. She thought she saw something coming towards her. It was the last image in her mind before blacking out.

x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x

Zoro swarm quickly to reach Reiko's sinking body. He managed to grab on to her wrist and he pulled her closer to him. He threw one of her arms around his neck and his arm then wrapped it's self around her waist. He swam up to the surface with as much speed and power he could manage. His head burst out of the water and he took a grateful gulp of air in. Reiko coughed up some water over his shoulder but remained unconscious.

"Oi, Luffy! Throw me a rope!" he called. A long rope came tumbling down the side of the Thousand Sunny. Zoro grabbed on, readjusted his grip on Reiko and said, "Pull me up moron! I can't climb up with her on my back!"

Luffy did as Zoro said and soon they were on the ship. Zoro dropped Reiko on the ground and then stepped away. He could hear Chopper running around frantically calling for a doctor.

"You're the doctor you idiot," Zoro said panting, and Chopper stopped dead in his tracks.

"Oh yeah, I am." He then quickly ran up to Reiko and checked her vitals. He preformed a quick CPR and got the water out of her lungs. She coughed several times and water spurted out of her mouth.

Zoro watched distantly as he took off his shirt to dry it and buckled his katana back to his haramaki.

Reiko opened her eyes and coughed again. She smiled gently and said, "Wow. That was a close one." She then sat up and saw Zoro's green wet hair. He was facing away from her. "Thanks Zoro," she called.

"Don't mention it," he muttered walking back to his weights. That's when Reiko saw the long scar that stretched from his left shoulder to his right hip. It shocked her to see him with such a deadly scar. The wound must have been extremely severe. When Zoro was far enough away that he wouldn't hear her, she turned to face Chopper and asked, "Hey Chopper, do you know where Zoro got that nasty scar?"

Chopper blinked at her in slight confusion before saying, "Uh yeah. He got it before I joined the crew. He was fighting with Mihawk and lost, hence getting that awful scar. I've been told that he almost died in the fight and that the wound itself almost killed him later on."

"He fought the Shichibukai Hawkeye Mihawk! Why would he do something so stupid? Hawkeye is the world's greatest swordsman."

"For that reason exactly," said Sanji from behind them. Reiko and Chopper looked up at him. "His dream is to be the world's greatest swordsman and to do that he's got to beat Mihawk. He's even willing to die for his own ambition, that idiot. Like most of the crew, he'll do almost everything to accomplish his dream. Though I think he and Luffy will risk it all for their goals."

"Oh wow. So what's your ambition then, Sanji?" she asked.

"Mine? Well it's to find the All Blue. It's the ocean that has every single type of fish in it. It's every cooks dream, especially mine."

"Cool."

"Well either way I didn't mean to interrupt you guys. I just came over here to tell you that lunch is ready. You should probably hurry up before Luffy eats it all. Though I'll kick Luffy's ass if he touches your food," Sanji said smoothly.

Reiko giggled as Chopper ran to the dining room. She noticed that she and Sanji were the only ones on deck. She stood up with Sanji's gracious help, and walked into the dining room.

"Your hair is wet, Reiko-chan. What happened?" he asked tenderly.

"Oh, I just fell off the ship but Zoro sav-I mean, got me, so I was fine," she said.

"Well I'm glad you're ok," he said not noticing her stutter in the sentence before.

They stepped into the dinning hall and Reiko wasn't surprised to see food flying and rubber arms stretching to unimaginable lengths to get food. Sanji walked her in and she sat between Robin and Brook. Luffy was sitting at the head of the table with Usopp and Chopper at each of his sides. Beside Usopp sat Brook. Then Zoro sat beside him and finally Sanji was next to Zoro. Nami sat at the other end of the table, to Sanji's left. Robin sat across from Sanji, Reiko across from Zoro, Franky from Brook and Chopper from Usopp.

Reiko noticed that Nami, Sanji, and Robin's plates, as well as her own, had not been touched by Luffy's greedy hands. Every other plate was missing food from several places. She looked at all of the men's reaction to Luffy's greediness. Zoro was scowling at him. Usopp was strangling him, with Chopper smacking his bulging stomach begging for his meet back. Franky was standing and yelling at him. Brook didn't seem to mind as he didn't eat as much as the others. Luffy didn't take note of the other's reaction as he continued to shove food down his throat, even with Usopp strangling him he was still able to continue to eat.

He did notice, however, that everyone had sat down. A grin spread across his face and he went to grab something off of Sanji's plate, but Sanji stepped on his hand and he pulled it back in pain. Suddenly a large juicy stake on Reiko's plate caught his eye and his hand darted out to get it.

"Hey!" called Reiko as her stake was driven right towards his gaping mouth. But before it could be thrown in and devoured the solid form of Reiko's shadow appeared right in front of Luffy's face. His hand smashed into it and let go of Reiko's stake in surprise. Her shadow grabbed the stake and swiftly brought it back to her own plate. Luffy rubbed his hand for a few seconds then decided that Reiko's plate was yet another to be left alone, for the time being.

"Great idea Reiko! Chopper, use your devil fruit powers to get out meat back!" commanded Usopp.

"Right!" said Chopper morphing into his humanoid form and he began to pound on Luffy's balloon shaped belly.

Luffy wasn't paying much attention to them as he patted his stomach and said, "I'm stuffed! That was great Sanji!"

"Thanks Luffy. How about you Reiko-chan? How do you think it is?"

"It's marvelous Sanji! Probably the best food I've ever tasted in my entire life!" she said taking another bite out of her steak.

"Really? You think my food is the best! How kind Reiko-chan! You are the best too!" he said, hearts for eyes.

Zoro scowled and said, "Just because she likes your shitty cooking doesn't mean she's gonna sleep with you ero-cook."

"What did you say marimo?" asked Sanji, now standing with a foot on the table and frowning at Zoro.

"Did I hurt your feelings curly brow?" he asked irritated and now standing himself, his hand placed on his katana ready to attack.

"I'll kick your ass, you shitty swordsman!"

"You can try dartboard!"

With that both men lunged at each other, Zoro unsheathing two of his katana and using the flat of the sword against Sanji, and Sanji prepared to block and counter attack with his feet.

Nami lifted up her hands and said, "Come on guys? Is this really necessary?" hopping to stop them but to no avail.

She turned around to Luffy, Chopper, Usopp, and Franky to ask for their help, only to see both Franky and Chopper pounding down on Luffy's bloated stomach, with Usopp standing on the table cheering them on. Luffy looked as if he were going to be sick and Nami instantly yelled at them.

"You idiots! Do you want him to puke?" she asked sarcastically.

"Yes," said Usopp plainly.

Nami came up behind him and hit him on the back of the head making him fall over. Reiko couldn't help but laugh.

"If he throws it up you still can't eat it! So quit it!" she yelled and Chopper and Franky stopped.

"Here, you guys can have my meat. I'm full anyways. That was delicious Sanji, tanks for everything," said Reiko handing her plate over to Usopp.

Sanji momentarily stopped fighting to say, "You're sooooo welcome Reiko-chan!"

Zoro hit him on the back of the head with the hilt of his katana and they started fighting again. Reiko smiled and heard Robin slightly laugh. She turned back to the men at the table nodding slightly and excusing herself from the table.

Usopp began to cut the meat and Chopper turned back to normal.

"Yay!" he said, awaiting more meat. But as Usopp was about to give everyone their share of meat, Luffy's mouth clamped onto the plate and Usopp's hands. Franky, Chopper, and Usopp all screamed in unison, though for slightly different reasons. Luffy spat out the empty plate and Usopp's hands.

Reiko walked out as they strangled Luffy once more. She could hear Usopp ranting angrily.

"I thought you said you were full you big liar!"

"It just smelled so good I couldn't help myself. Hey Sanji can you make some more meat?"

"What are you talking about you ate all the meat you bastard!" cried Usopp.

She could still hear them yelling all the way from the deck. She walked up to the mast and made her shadow become a solid platform attached to the mast. She jumped onto it and raised herself higher so she was a good fifteen feet off the ground. Then she made her shadow longer so she could lay on it. She took a deep breath and sighed.

_I didn't think I'd ever feel this comfortable on a pirate crew. They're all so strange I practically fit in perfectly. But it's not gonna stay this great forever. Pretty soon this is all going to hell._ She sighed again. _Damn it! What am I going to do? I have to do anything and everything to accomplish my goals and save my clan. Maybe if I'm really lucky I won't loose everything._

She was startled and almost fell off of her shadow when Luffy ran out onto the deck screaming and laughing. Usopp was chasing him with his giant 'Usopp Hammer'. Chopper also came out trying to stop Usopp from attacking Luffy, knowing one of them would get hurt. Robin followed in coming out and sat in her chair from before and began reading. Then Zoro stormed out onto the deck and, not noticing Reiko, went over to the mast and sat down, crossed his arms behind his head and began to snore as he drifted off into sleep.

Reiko flipped so that she was lying on her belly, hand resting on her arms, as she observed her new crewmates. She found herself watching only Zoro again. The sounds of his soft snores reaching her sensitive ears and making her own body relax. She dreamily stared at his slumped body. She observed him carefully and noted that his three katana were nestled perfectly into his strong frame and his three earrings jingled with the wind.

Her mind was in such a daze that she wasn't prepared for the sudden shake the ship gave, and she fell right off her shadow and went head first into Zoro's stomach. When her head collided with him, his eyes shot open and a roaring scream burst from his mouth. She rolled off of him, rubbing her head in pain and looked up. Zoro was standing, clutching his stomach with one hand, a mean glare plastered on his face.

"S-sorry Zoro. I really didn't mean it," she muttered.

He angrily looked away but before he could take more than five steps, his chest heaved and trembled as he went through a coughing fit. It lasted only a few seconds and he then walked into the men's quarters, pressing a hand up against his pained stomach.

Reiko wasn't the only one surprised by the swordsman's behavior. Robin had closed her book and was now looking at the door, vague worry spread on her face. She noticed that the scream that had erupted from Zoro's chest when Reiko had fallen on him, had not been in his usual annoyed tone. In fact it had been a scream of pure pain and agony. But she had seen him take much worse damage without so much as a grunt as response. She figured his injuries from Thriller Bark and his fight with Bartholomew Kuma must not have completely healed yet. Reiko saw this concern in Robin and went up to her.

x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x

Zoro barged into the bathroom and ran to one of the toilets. He kneeled over it and vomited the contents of his stomach into the porcelain bowl. Blood accompanied his lunch. He finished a few moments later, a cold sweat slathered across his brow. He leaned his head on his arm, which rested on the toiled edge. He coughed a couple of times, blood spurting out of his mouth, and then stood.

"Damn it," he muttered as he whipped the blood off his lips with the back of his hand. He flushed and then walked to the sink and mirror. He stared at his paled reflection, the dark rings under his eyes taunting him.

_What the hell is wrong with me?_ he asked himself. _That fall really shouldn't have hurt as much as it did. It's obvious my injuries still haven't healed but I didn't think I was this out of it. Damn, this is going to make things really difficult if that small hit hurt that bad. _

He stood straight and felt a bit woozy but the dizziness soon passed and he walked back out to the deck.

x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x

Robin looked up at Reiko standing beside her. She smiled kindly and said, "Hello werewolf-san. Do you need something?"

"Yeah," Reiko said sitting down on the grass of the deck. "It's about Zoro. I feel like he doesn't like me too much."

"You shouldn't worry. Swordsman-san cares about all of his Nakama, even if he doesn't show it."

"I know, I just don't think he sees me as Nakama. More like someone who's invading his space."

"Well you did fall on him twice," Robin said laughing lightly.

Reiko smiled. "That's not my fault. Both times were accidents," Reiko said happily.

Robin noticed that Reiko still seemed worried about something.

"When I first joined the crew, I was an enemy to the team. Swordsman-san was the only one who didn't approve of me joining the crew. It took a little bit but after a while he began to see me as Nakama. And when I was going to die, he and the rest of the crew risked their lives without a second thought to save me. I know it will be the same with you. Just give him some time."

Reiko's face brightened with hope.

"Yeah, I guess I should start by apologizing to him."

"Here's your chance," said Robin as she saw Zoro walk back on deck.

Reiko jumped to her feet and darted to him. Robin smiled sweetly again and went back to her book.

As Reiko got closer to Zoro she noticed he was slightly paler than before, and her quick jog turned into a cautious walk.

"Zoro?" she called as she approached him.

"Hm?" He turned around and saw her coming at him so he stopped. She was relieved that he didn't avoid her. "Yeah?" he asked.

"Um… I just wanted to say that I'm sorry for falling on you. I didn't mean to hurt you all that bad. Hell I didn't mean to hurt you at all. It was sorta an accident."

He smirked and said, "It didn't hurt, I'm fine."

Her eyes narrowed into suspicious slits. "Oh, okay. Well then I'm glad you feel better," she said smacking him on the back roughly.

His teeth clenched in pain and his eyes slightly widened. She saw the small gestures and wondered just how bad he was hurt.

"See, I'm fine," he muttered slightly out of breath, teeth still clenched shut.

"You always this pale then?"

"You're just seeing things."

She slightly frowned but walked beside him on his way to the mast. But a sudden chill down her back stopped her dead in her tracks. Zoro turned around with a raised brow.

"Something wrong?"

She didn't answer but her nose cringed, her ears perked to attention, and her tail straightened stiffly.

"Reiko, you okay?" he asked again.

She opened her mouth to answer him, but suddenly an enormous cannonball landed beside the ship, rocking it violently. Reiko and Zoro fell over. She landed in his arms and smiled at him, slightly blushing.

"Thanks."

"Don't mention it," he said kindly, unlike he had when he saved her from the ocean.

Her moment of joy was cut short as the sickly smell of gunpowder, iron and blood returned to her sensitive nose.

"MARINES!" she called standing up.

But it was too late. They were surrounded by three marine galleons with all the cannons pointed at them…..

**OK so that's the chapter. I hope you guys like it and I'm trying super hard to get chapter three up by the weekend (it's probably gonna be just as long as this one). Not a lot of violence in this chapter as you can see, but next chapter will be chuck full of it! So YAY VIOLENCE! Hope you guys liked it and had a laugh or two while reading, plz review. **


	3. The Battle Begins

**Ok so here's the first real fight in my fic, Sorry for taking forever guys, writing has been goin kinda slow for me lately because of some school stuff but its kool cuz I rewarded you guys with an uber long fight chapter! HURA! I didn't get that many reviews for chapter two. **** But hey that's kool cuz I still saw that lots of people read it so it's alright. For those few reviews I did get, I really appreciate it and I can't wait to get some for this chapter. I appreciate everything guys **** so read, review, or pm me. All of that is great **** I just added to the end of the chapter cuz I felt it was missing a little something to make sense with the next chapter so here you go **

Chapter 3: The Battle Begins

The ship rocked violently as the marines shot at the Strawhats. Everyone came up on the deck, confused faces common among the crew. When Zoro noticed that the crew was now on deck he quickly took his hands off of Reiko's shoulders, hoping that no one had seen it.

"What the hell is going on here?" asked Nami.

"I don't know. Reiko started acting weird and then a cannonball came down and almost blasted us out of the sea," said Zoro, making sure to keep out the part with him and Reiko. "The next thing I knew we were surrounded," he finished.

"Well let's take them down!" said Luffy now back to his normal size.

"Right!" yelled the crew as they prepared for battle.

Reiko eyed Zoro carefully. "Hey," she whispered to him.

"What?" he asked looking at her, two of his katana already unsheathed.

"Are you sure your okay enough to fight?" she asked, clearly worried.

He brushed her off. "I already told you I'm fine. I won't even need to use my three sword style on these marine scum. They aren't even a challenge," he said, somewhat irritated. He then walked over to the railing with the rest of the crew.

Reiko frowned trying to ignore him and walked up to the crew as well. "Luffy," she called.

"Yeah?"

"I can sniff out the marine captain and figure out where they came from, can you guys take care of the rest?"

"Sure. Be careful," he said nodding. Then he pulled his arm back and launched it at one of the marine ships. His other arm wrapped itself around Zoro's waist.

"Zoro you're coming with me!" he said giggling and smiling brightly.

"Wait a minute Luffy!" he started saying but before he could say anything else, he and Luffy were pulled to the ship. The Strawhats could hear Luffy's laughter and Zoro's shocked yelling.

Chopper pulled out one of his rumble balls and ate it. "Rumble: Jump Point!" His body transformed so that his hind legs and arms were long and he jumped over to a different ship and Sanji followed him.

Brook then walked up to Reiko and looked at her. "Do you know what ship he's on?" he asked tentatively.

She sniffed a couple of times and focused carefully. "Unfortunately it smells like he's towards the ship Luffy seems to be destroying. There are like double the amount of marines on that ship. Do you think you can handle the third ship?"

Franky came up from behind them and said, "I'll go with him, so no worries."

Brook nodded and ran across the water his signature laugh bouncing off the waves. "Yohohohohohoh!"

Franky faced away from the marine ship and said, "Coup de Vent!" His forearms expanding to a huge size and a gust of air escaping out of his hands; it launched him to the marines.

"We'll take care of them from the ship," said Nami.

Reiko nodded and jumped onto the railing. She then jumped again morphing into her wolf form in mid jump. She landed on her shadow platform and then jumped again, propelling herself forward towards the marines. Her shadow continued to solidify underneath her after every jump until she reached the ship.

She landed on the ship's deck on all fours. Noticing that she was surrounded by marines she morphed back to normal to get a good look at the odds. She smirked as they came at her, swords pointed to kill. She morphed into her werewolf form and crouched. Her shadow went around her as a shield blocking all the swords as they pressed against it harder. She made her shadow expand and then vanish, knocking away the marine's weapons. She then spun around, her claws cutting the marines soft bellies.

They fell to the ground and she morphed back to normal. She stood straight and wiped the blood off of her hands on a marine's vest. She looked around to make sure Luffy and Zoro were fine.

Luffy was enjoying himself throwing the marines overboard and stretching across the entire ship. Zoro, on the other hand, seemed a bit exhausted, though nothing seemed terribly wrong, except when more marines came towards him. Reiko saw him unsheathe Wadō and pace it between his teeth. _That must be the three sword style he was talking about before, so much for not needing it. But now that he's going full out he should be fine. I'll ask him about the three sword style later,_ she thought turning in search for the marine captain.

She morphed into her wolf form again and sniffed a couple times. The familiar stench of blood and iron made her crinkle her nose and bare her fangs. She would never forget that smell. _What the hell is he doing here?_ She started to run in the direction of the scent trying to get to it's origin as soon as she could for the sake of her new crew. She came across two large doors and took a deep breath. She knew he was in there. She morphed back to normal and took a step back, making her shadow stretch and open the door. She walked in carefully and observed the room. There was a large desk near the back of the room with a big cushioned chair behind it. A deep growl escaped her throat as she heard the man sitting in the chair snicker. The chair turned slowly and the marine captain faced Reiko; his hand folded perfectly on the desk.

"How nice to see you again Reiko," he said, his voice irritating her ears.

"What the hell are you doing here Yamashi?"

x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x

Sanji spun quickly on his hands, knocking away several marine soldiers. He jumped back onto his feet and smirked, puling out a cigarette and lighting it gently. He looked up and saw Chopper, now in his humanoid form, throwing marines overboard and smashing them against each other. Suddenly a large man with an even larger black hammer came charging towards Sanji. Sanji jumped back and frowned.

"Chopper do you think you can handle the rest of these idiots? I'll take care of this guy," he said. Chopper nodded but kept on eye on Sanji incase he needed help.

The large man smirked. "You think you can take me little man?" he asked.

"A bastard like you doesn't stand a chance against me," countered Sanji, as he straightened his jacket.

The hammer man let out a battle cry and rushed toward Sanji, who easily dodged him and jumped up to kick the hammer man in the face. But Sanji's attack was also easily stopped. _Damn. He's a lot faster than I thought and this hammer of his is going to be a big problem. I just need one good kick and this guy's done for,_ he thought, dodging another swing of the hammer and jumping away.

x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x

Brook had arrived at the ship slightly after Franky. He panted as he crawled up onto the ship hoping no one would see him. He poked his head slightly up so that he could see who he was up against. Bad move. The second his head popped up several shots came his way. He squealed and ducked quickly, looking up again only after several moments had passed. He saw Franky looking at him slightly confused.

"Oi, Brook what are you doing?" he asked.

"M-me? Nothing I was just coming up here to help you," he said quickly, jumping up on to the railing. Suddenly he fell to his side. "Ah! I twisted my ankle! Though I don't have any ligaments to hold my ankle together," he said as he began to fall overboard.

Franky quickly grabbed him and pulled him up onto the ship. "Be careful! I don't need to be saving your ass from stupid mistakes like that."

"Right sorry."

Franky turned around and began to twist his left arm inwards, exposing four small holes. "Let's do this!" he said.

Brook nodded.

"Beans Left!" called Franky and soon small rounds of ammunition began coming out from the small holes. The small bullets hit several marines launching them away.

Brook then attacked all those who didn't get hit; his cane sword moving swiftly and cutting down the enemies. Soon, though, Franky's attacks brought too much unwanted attention and they became out numbered.

"Damn didn't see them coming."

"Do not worry. They won't be a problem for too much longer," said Brook. He then took out his small fiddle and placed his sword on top of it. The marines looked at him as if he were crazy. He then swiped it on the cords of the fiddle. "Nemurita Flanc!" he said and a soothing melody came from the instrument. The marine soldiers quickly fell asleep. "Yohohohohohoho! I knew they would fall for it, eh Franky." When he got no response he turned around. "Franky?" He saw Franky dead asleep on the floor of the ship. "Franky! What are you doing asleep!' Franky didn't answer.

Brook quickly went over to him and began to poke him with his skeletal finger in a lousy attempt to wake him.

x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x

As the rest of the crew attacked marines, Usopp hid behind the mast, hopping no one would see him. Unfortunately for him, Nami did.

"What the hell are you doing Usopp?" she cried, going towards him. "The rest of us are trying to protect this ship and you're over here cowering! Even Reiko is doing more work than you and she just joined today! Get out here and help us!"

"I can't Nami. You see my 'Can't-fight-the-marines disease is almost fatal and I can't do anything about it. And there's absolutely no cure," he stated matter-of-factly.

Nami charged a thunder ball on her Clima-Tact and pointed it at Usopp.

"Here's your damn cure!" she scolded, getting Usopp to jump to his feet, his legs wobbling.

"I-I'm cured! T-thanks Nami! I'll go c-check on the cannons and see if I can hit the marines," he stuttered out quickly before running under the deck.

Nami rolled her eyes and walked back towards Robin, letting her Clima-Tact rest on her shoulder. She noticed that the cannon balls had stopped coming at them. She looked and Robin and saw that her arms were crossed and her eyes were shut.

"Robin did you…?" she asked mischievously.

Robin looked at Nami and smiled. "Yes. I made the cannons face towards the inside of the ship instead of at us."

"Great. My thunder cloud is almost done. So I'll be able to shoot down the masts. I just hope Luffy and the rest of them aren't near the mast or they'll get shocked too."

"Yes, we wouldn't want that," said Robin.

"I wonder if Usopp has prepared the cannons yet. I bet he's probably cowering down there," said Nami, looking back at the inside of the ship.

x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x

Zoro's breaths came out hard as he panted from exhaustion. He was barley holding his own against the lowly marines. He couldn't believe he was having such trouble with them. His usual stamina and strength were extremely depleted since his wounds were still causing him problems. And in addition to that his stomach still burned in pain. He pushed back a few marines and took a step back trying to fix his footing and catch his breath. He looked around for Luffy hopping to get some assistance. He then saw Luffy running around chasing his hat, which seemed to be caught in a gust of wind.

"Come back here with my hat!" Luffy cried out.

Suddenly a face appeared in the wind. "You'll never get it back! Unless you can stop me!" said the wind man laughing and grinning wildly.

Zoro frowned. "Luffy! Quit messing around!" he growled through clenched teeth on Wadō's hilt.

"I can't get my hat back Zoro!" Luffy whined.

"Stop being an idiot!" Zoro called, watching Luffy with an irritated glare. He didn't see the marine that ran at him, placing a powerful kick in Zoro's side. His eyes widened and he bit down harder on the hilt. He was thrown a few feet away. _Damn it! That hurt. This is not good,_ he thought standing up, and grunting as his side throbbed in unison with his stomach. He looked up at the smirking marine and glared.

"Well I definitely never expected the great Roronoa Zoro to be taken down so easily," said the marine, chuckling.

"Just shut up. You just got a lucky shot is all. You won't be getting any more," Zoro growled out.

The marine smirked. "Hmph. Don't think I'll be easy to beat. I am the stone man Ankoro!" he said gloating.

"Never heard of ya."

Ankoro's face turned red with embarrassment.

"Well t-that's too bad for you!" he stuttered out. "I can turn my entire body into stone thanks to the devil fruit I ate," he quickly warned.

"Well that's not a problem," Zoro said smirking.

The other man mirrored Zoro. "Don't get cocky Roronoa. I know you can cut through steal. But I can become as hard as diamond!"

_Shit!_ Sweat beaded down Zoro's face. He knew that in his current condition he was going to have a hard time cutting steal, none the less diamond.

"Makes no difference to me," he lied.

"Fine," said the marine lunging at him.

As he came Zoro saw the man's skin change from the dark color and rough texture it had been to a smoother more glamorous tone. Zoro heard him say, "Diamond defense!" as he continued to charge.

Zoro put up Sandai Kitetsu and Shuusui in an X formation to defend from Ankoro's heavy punch. He was pushed back by the force of the blow. _Damn this is going to be hard._

"Oni Giri!" Zoro crossed his swords over his chest and lunged at Ankoro. He landed behind Ankoro, his swords now spread to his sides. Zoro stood straight up again and looked back slightly. Ankoro was just standing there smirking at him. Zoro growled.

"Fine we'll do this the hard way," Zoro said, taking Wadō out of his mouth and sheathing all his swords.

Ankoro almost laughed. "Giving up already. I must say I'm very disappointed."

"Shut up."

Zoro unbuckled Wadō's sheath and spun it until it became upright. He then grabbed the hilt with his left hand. "One sword style: Lion's Strike!" he said and quickly unsheathed the sword while lunging at Ankoro again. Ankoro didn't bother dodge the attack. Once again Zoro landed behind him and sheathed Wadō. He heard the satisfactory crack he was hoping for but nothing more happened.

He quickly looked back to see Ankoro coming at him. He unsheathed Wadō again and blocked Ankoro's fist.

"Nice attack Zoro, but that tiny scratch you gave me isn't going to do you much good. It seems you can't quite cut diamond yet. Not even enough to make me bleed," said Ankoro smirking and grabbing Wadō, pushing Zoro down to his knees.

_Damn I was sure that would work, and if he keeps grabbing onto Wad__ō__ like that it's definitely going to break. Gotta get away and hit him again, _Zoro thought frantically. He pulled roughly with his left hand and managed to get Wadō out of Ankoro's grip. He jumped away, panting hard, and tried to think of some way to defeat him.

x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x

"What the hell are you doing here Yamashi?"

"Is that anyway to speak to an old friend?" Yamashi asked coyly.

"We are **not** friends."

"Right. Well either way I believe I deserve more respect from you."

"You'll get my respect when you earn it."

"Haven't I?"

"That has yet to be seen."

"I beg to differ."

"You didn't answer my question," Reiko cut off.

"Of course, how rude of me. Although I do think the answer is as plain as day."

"Enlighten me."

"Well, if you must know I'm here for the Strawhats' heads. Their bounties are exceptionally high, as you probably know. And I'm not about to let an opportunity like that pass by me."

"Did someone send you?"

"No, I came of my own free will."

"Then leave," she said sternly.

"Why? Oh, now I see." He chuckled loudly. "I must say I never expected you of all people to join the Strawhats."

"It's none of your concern."

"Oh but I think it is. After all without me you'd be––."

"Shut-up! I owe you nothing!" she screamed, cutting him off.

"My, my, what a temper you have. A lot feistier than I remember. Someone needs to teach you your place," he said standing.

"And you think that you're the one to do it?" Reiko taunted smirking.

"The thought had crossed my mind."

She growled and morphed into her werewolf form.

"I see. Well bad decisions do teach I suppose," he said sighing.

"I hope your talking about yourself." Then Reiko lunged at him.

x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x

Luffy ran after his hat angrily, completely ignoring all the marines, or anyone else for that matter. Somehow he managed to dodge every attack coming his way.

"Gum-Gum Pistol!" His arm stretched out to reach up to his hat. He just barely missed it because as soon as he got close enough to touch it the wind man would speed up and Luffy would miss.

"Damn it! Gimmy my hat back!" he cried out in anger.

The wind man laughed. "Never, unless you can stop me." _I just need to stall him long enough for Ankoro to get rid of the swordsman, and then he can deal with this twerp,_ he thought before speeding up once again.

"Damn I have to catch my hat somehow," said Luffy. He sat down cross legged and began to think about how to catch things. The wind man slowed down and began to travel in circles, wondering what the rubber boy was up to.

_What do you catch things with? Well Usopp and Sanji usually catch fish with a fishing rod…I don't have one of those… What else do they use? Well Zoro and Franky usually use their hands, but I've already tried that and that didn't work. Hm… OH I'VE GOT IT! A NET! _He laughed as the idea popped in his head. He jumped back onto his feet and started tying his fingers together. The wind man looked at Luffy even more confused. Luffy then stretched his arms really far apart creating a net with his fingers.

"Gum-Gum Finger Net!" he said. Then he jumped up towards his hat.

"Ha! You can't catch me with that!" he said.

But Luffy just smiled and said, "It's not supposed to catch you stupid." The wind man then went through the net, but Luffy's hat didn't. Luffy landed on the floor and fixed his fingers, placing his hat back on his head, smiling brightly.

"Damn you! It doesn't matter I can just take your hat again!" Then the wind man directed himself towards Luffy.

Luffy frowned but it quickly vanished as another idea came up in his mind. He took in a large breath, inhaling as much as is expansive lungs could carry. He inflated like a balloon, catching the wind man off guard. He then exhaled all his air in a giant gust of wind, sending the wind man flying backwards.

"No! Wait. I can turn back to normal when ever I need to. Hah! Your attacks are useless against me," he called before turning human again. Unfortunately for him, Luffy's breath had sent him past the ship's boarders, and over the top of the sea. The instant he turned human again he dropped to the cold dark depths of the ocean.

"Hakimi! Hurry, we have to go get him!" yelled a marine. He and a few others dived into the ocean after him.

"Bye then!" called Luffy smiling. He then looked back to Zoro to tell him the wonderful news. "Look Zoro! I got my hat back," he said joyfully.

"Good for you Luffy. Now can you get rid of these damn marines," said Zoro, his muffled voice barely reaching Luffy's ears, as he blocked several quick punches from Ankoro.

Luffy looked at Zoro and for the first time realized he was in a serious fight. He also noticed his pale and weakened façade.

"Zoro are you okay?" Luffy asked with a childish curiosity.

"Don't worry about me! Just deal with these marines!" he yelled giving Luffy an irritated look, which didn't seam to faze the rubber man at all.

Ankoro took advantage of Zoro's momentary distraction to punch Zoro in the face. Zoro was sent across the floor and he quickly skidded to a halt.

"Zoro!" cried Luffy, who began to run at him.

"Stop!" Luffy did. "I told you I'm fine. Just get rid of those marines so Reiko won't get attacked," Zoro muttered, every word agony to his beaten jaw.

Luffy nodded and turned around to fight off the marines. Zoro stood up and placed Wadō firmly in his mouth. Or at least he tried to. It felt as if his jaw was on fire and he could barely manage to keep Wadō in place, much less defend with it. _Ignore the pain. Chopper can fix you up later. For now just focus on kicking this guys ass,_ he thought preparing for one final attack against Ankoro.

"I see you still have some fight left in you, Roronoa. Let's fix that."

But before Ankoro could attack again Yamashi was thrown through the walls of the ship and landed on the hard deck. Everyone looked at him confused. Luffy's face brightened tremendously when he saw Reiko standing in the midst of the dust and rubble left behind from her attack. She just finished turning into her human form, Yamashi's bright and feathered hat resting atop her head.

"WOW! Sooo cool Reiko!" Luffy said jumping up and down with excitement.

Zoro looked at her smirking, content to see she hadn't gotten into trouble. She looked back at him and smiled gleefully. Ankoro frowned angrily. _Damn her!_ he thought.

"Soft Stone!" His body turned hollow and soft but light, this enabled him to run at Zoro with a startling rapid speed. As he approached he pulled his arm pack for his attack. "Diamond Punch!" His fist turned into solid diamond and he propelled it into Zoro's stomach with his unimaginable speed.

Zoro couldn't help but let out a pained groan as the unbreakable fist rammed into his already injured stomach. Before Zoro flew off of Ankoro's fist and into the air a spear-like diamond instantly grew out of Ankoro's fist and pierced Zoro.

"Diamond Spike!"

Blood burst from Zoro's mouth and stomach as he flew up into the air. His eyes unfocused and his jaw went slack. Everything around him felt so far away, movement all in slow-motion. All noises were muffled and distant. All he could feel was the dull numbness of his own body and all he could see was the darkening sky.

"ZORO!" cried Luffy and Reiko in unison. Reiko turned into a wolf and ran as fast as she could at Ankoro.

He saw her coming and said, "Diamond Defense," turning his entire body into diamond again.

What surprised him was that she jumped before reaching him. She turned into a werewolf mid jump and landed on his shoulders. She dug her powerful claws into his diamond flesh, the acid and poison in her claws burning into the solid material. She then propelled herself towards Zoro, catching him in the air, not even paying attention to the blood curling scream that escaped Ankoro's lips. When she latched onto Zoro a deep moan crept out from his throat and Wadō, followed by thick red blood, came out of his mouth. She focused hard and created a large shadow platform which she landed on. Instantly, searing pain exploded in her left side. She noticed her own silvery blood dripping from Shuusui's tip. _Damn it! I got careless and let his damn sword cut me. It's really deep too. _She then remembered Wadō and looked around to see it falling into the sea. She forced her shadow to stretch and grab it. The shadow brought it back into Reiko's furry grip. She then proceeded to sheath it, followed by Zoro's other two blades. Then she laid him down on the shadow and looked back to the marine ship.

"Luffy! We need to get Chopper back to the ship! Zoro's hurt really badly! Forget about the marines, the diamond guy is taken care of and so it the captain, so just go find Chopper and bring him back to the ship!" she called out, hoping he would hear her.

"Got it!" he called back. Then he stretched over to the next ship.

Reiko picked up Zoro again and gently placed him over her shoulder, his blood quickly staining her fur and clothes. _I don't have the energy to move my shadow all the way back to the Sunny nor can I make another platform if I jump. I've pretty much wasted all my lunar energy with all of my transformations and shadow manipulations. I guess I'm going to have to make it in one jump,_ she nervously thought as she stepped towards the edge of her shadow. She grabbed Zoro with one arm and then crouched. Focusing all her remaining strength and energy in her legs she made one final jump towards the Thousand Sunny. Her large hind paws landed powerfully on the ship with so much momentum that she had to dig her claws into the ground to stop herself from skidding across the entire deck. She slowly came to a stop and dropped to her knees from exhaustion. She placed Zoro's head gingerly on her knees, laying his body carefully on the grassy floor. She morphed back to normal. Her clothes, hair, and fur were drenched in blood, mainly Zoro's and her own blood had turned from it's silvery color to a shade of red with her transformation. Her muscles burned with exhaustion. She looked down at Zoro's face. He was very pale from the blood loss and Reiko checked his pulse. She was relieved when she felt its weak pounding in his neck. But her mind reminded her that if Chopper didn't get to Zoro soon, he'd be dead in a matter of minutes.

"Reiko what happened?" asked Nami as she and Robin came running at her.

"Zoro got really hurt fighting a marine. We need to get everyone back on the ship."

"We could just have Chopper come back."

"I don't want to risk anyone else getting hurt. I've fought these marines before and they're not your everyday soldiers. The majority of them have devil fruit powers, and they have excellent fighting skills," Reiko warned.

"Okay. I'll get Usopp to shoot up a flare. Make sure Zoro doesn't bleed out," said Nami running to find Usopp.

Reiko ripped a large piece of Zoro's shirt and pressed it against his main wound. The sickly smell of his blood made her stomach turn, and she silently prayed that Chopper arrived in time. Usopp and Nami came outside soon after.

"W-what the hell h-happened?" asked Usopp, his voice trembling slightly.

"I'll tell you about it later. Right now get everyone back on the ship."

"Right." Usopp quickly shot up a large flare, signaling everyone to come back to the Sunny.

x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x

With Franky finally awoken both he and Brook could deal with the marines that hadn't woken up yet. But it didn't take long for them to start coming to.

"We need to hold them and get rid of them," said Brook slightly nervous.

"No problem bro. Let's try this. Strong Right!" Franky detached his right forearm and launched it at the marines. His hand spun around all of them keeping them entrapped in the chain. Once it completed a full circle around them it grabbed on to the chain to make itself like a lasso.

"Amazing Franky!"

"Thanks. Now deal with these jerks."

"Right." Brook unsheathed his weapon and attacked. "Polka Remise!" He threw several quick and deadly thrusts at the tied up marines. The marines moaned and groaned in pain at Brook's attack. Soon he was stopped by Franky.

"What's wrong?"

"Usopp's flair. He launched it which means they need us back at the ship lets dump these marines overboard and head back," said Franky.

"Okay."

Franky grabbed his chain with his left hand and flung the marines overboard. Then his right hand returned back to its original position. Then they both went back to the ship.

x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x

Luffy quickly landed on the marine ship which Sanji and Chopper were taking care of. Chopper was the one to see him first.

"Luffy what's the matter? Why aren't you with Zoro?" he asked gently.

"You need to come back to the ship fast!" Luffy said, not wanting to waste any time.

"Why what's the matter?" asked Sanji from afar, after kicking away the man with the hammer.

"Zoro's been hurt really, really bad."

"He's been what? That damn idiot," said Sanji, now irritated at the swordsman's incompetence.

"Come one Sanji, we don't have time let's go!" complained Luffy.

"I'm not going to help that bastard. He deserves what ever he gets," said Sanji, his attention back on the man trying to squash him.

"Please Sanji! I bet Nami and Reiko would be really happy if you came!" said Luffy trying to convince his comrade. It did the trick.

Sanji's eyes turned into hearts and his hands clamped together lovingly. Just the thought of Nami and Reiko thanking him was more than enough to set him off.

"Really? They want me back? OF COURSE I'D COME BACK FOR THEM!" he said, almost spinning around with joy.

The giant hammer came down on Sanji attempting to kill him, fortunately he moved.

"Damn you! Don't you see I was talking to someone!" Sanji yelled attacking, but missing.

"Heh. I noticed you were talking about Reiko. I know that girl; she's nothing but trouble if you ask me. I'll be glad to smooth her out," he said laughing and bringing his hammer down on Sanji again.

"Bastard, don't talk about a woman like that! Especially not one as kind and beautiful as Reiko-chan!" said Sanji as he jumped up and kicked the hammer man with an incredible speed and strength. His foot smashed against the hammer man's face, throwing him across the entire ship. "Ok Luffy let's go."

That's when they saw Usopp's flare and they knew something was really wrong. Luffy extended an arm, latched onto the Thousand Sunny, grabbed Chopper and drew them both to the ship. Sanji followed them.

x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x

Reiko didn't pay attention to anyone or anything. None of their words registered in her head as she felt Zoro's body getting colder and colder, she could barely see him breathing. She stared at him hoping that her gaze alone could save him. She came out of her self induced trance when a rubbery hand gripped her shoulder. She looked up to see it was Luffy staring at her, concern his only expression.

"Oi! What happened, Reiko?" he asked looking at her.

Reiko looked back at Zoro. "You saw it. Zoro got gutted by a marine. He needs attention fast."

"Right. Luffy help me take Zoro to the medical bay," said Chopper.

"Okay." Luffy picked up Zoro and followed Chopper inside.

"How'd this happen?" asked Nami.

"Yeah it's not like that marimo to loose to some marine scum," commented Sanji, holding his cigarette between two gentle fingers.

"He fought with Ankoro; a marine who can turn his body into any stone or mineral, including diamond. But Zoro was holding his own against him pretty well. The only reason he got hurt so bad was because of me. I made too big of an entrance and got him distracted," she muttered guiltily, keeping the small moment when they had looked at each other from the crew.

"It's not your fault Reiko-chan. That idiot should know better than to loose his focus in a fight," said Sanji hoping to cheer her up.

"I guess. I just wish he wouldn't have fought with them. I wish none of you had. They shouldn't have been here," she said glumly.

"What do you mean?" asked Usopp.

"Yeah, you mentioned you knew these marines from before," said Nami.

"Well when I first left my home in search of the Silver Stone I ran into a bit of trouble. See a lot of people who don't know about werewolves and our generally peaceful nature get scared when they see me or anyone like me for that matter."

"G-g-generally pa-peaceful?" Usopp muttered to himself, legs already trembling.

"At one island they called up the marines and it was them. They chased me around as if I were a major menace because of my heritage, though I didn't have a bounty on my head, nor do I know."

"So what can you tell us about these guys? It seems like you had a lot of time to get to know them," said Sanji.

"Well the captain of their fleet is called Yamashi. He doesn't have any devil fruit powers, or any super strength like that but he is a superb strategist; which is why he's the captain. Then his first mate is Ankoro, the guy I talked about before. He's the one who took down Zoro."

"Wait a second, you said that he could turn into any stone or mineral he wanted so can't he turn into the stone you're looking for?" asked Usopp.

"No. He needs to have physically touched the stone or mineral to be able to turn into it. Once he's touched it once in his life then he can turn into it again when ever he wants to. It's kind of like muscle memory," she quickly said.

"Ok so who else do we need to worry about in this crew?" asked Nami, not really wanting to know more.

"Well I don't think we'll have to worry about them any more. They're retreating," Reiko calmly stated.

Everyone turned to see the ships indeed turning around and retreating.

x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x

Yamashi stood up and dusted himself off. He looked around and frowned when he didn't see Hakimi. _Where is that idiot? Don't tell me Reiko made a mess of things up here,_ he thought. Then he saw Hakimi being dragged back onto the ship by his fellow marines.

"Damn it Hakimi! What were you doing in the ocean?" he asked angrily.

"That idiot Strawhat threw me overboard, Captain. It's not like I jumped in!"

"Well dry yourself off and get to the other ships. We're leaving."

"What! Why?"

"Because obviously you and the rest of this damned crew can't fight the Strawhats and win!"

Hakimi grumbled something but turned into a gust of wind and flew off to the other ships. Yamashi suddenly turned around when he heard a muffled groan. He saw Ankoro lying on the floor of the ship, blood and some other fluids pouring out of his shoulders. Yamashi walked up to him confused. _He's still in his diamond form so why is he hurt?_ Yamashi asked himself. He crouched down next to Ankoro.

"What the hell happened?"

"That werewolf girl, Reiko. She just jumped on me and dug her damn claws into my shoulders," muttered Ankoro.

_Damn her! If she's poisoned him he'll die,_ he thought. Then he turned Ankoro over and looked at his wounds. They were indeed full of Reiko's werewolf venom.

"We need to get you back to marine headquarters. Hakimi will have to take you or you won't make it in time. By the looks of it you have until sundown." Yamashi looked around to find Hakimi on his way back to the ship. "Hakimi! Take Ankoro to the marine base! They have the antidote to the poison that has been shot into Ankoro!" he yelled.

Hakimi nodded and came down. "Your going to have to turn into the lightest stone you can muster so I can get you there faster," Hakimi told Ankoro.

Ankoro nodded and closed his eyes. His body went back to the form of the soft stone before quickly passing out. Hakimi turned into wind again and raised Ankoro with him. Then he headed to the marine base.

Yamashi frowned and watched as the ship turned and they left the Strawhats behind. _That girl better know what she's doing,_ he thought before sailing off into the horizon.

x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x

Reiko slowly opened the door to the medical bay. She poked her head in and saw Chopper watching over Zoro's beaten and bandaged body. She carefully walked in and shut the door behind her. Chopper turned and looked at her, his face showing exhaustion and some worry. It made Reiko swallow hard. She walked up to Chopper and said, "You don't mind me coming here right? I just really wanted to see how Zoro was doing."

"Yeah you can be here. And well Zoro's doing better I guess."

"You guess?"

"Well he was really hurt when you brought him in here. Not even just by the wound in his abdomen. But I stopped the bleeding and now he's just sleeping it off."

"Oh, okay. You said he had more injuries?" she asked, remembering the fall from earlier that day.

"Yes. His jaw was dislocated, I fixed it but it's going to be hard for him to talk for a little while. Though knowing Zoro he'll probably start talking when he wakes up."

"Yeah he's a knucklehead. Is that all?"

"Well he's still pretty bruised up from Thriller Bark, which is probably why he got hurt so easily."

"What do you mean?"

"Before you joined the crew we were on a floating island called Thriller Bark."

"Yeah I've heard of it. The zombie ship island right?"

"Yeah. We fought this giant zombie and Gecko Moria, one of the seven warlords of the sea, and we all got hurt pretty bad."

"You guys defeated a warlord! Wow!"

"Well more like Luffy defeated Moria, he beat Crocodile too," Chopper said proudly.

"Really! You guys are amazing."

"Yeah, were all a lot stronger than we look. But you are too. Luffy told me he saw you take down the marine captain all by yourself."

"Yeah well he wasn't that hard to beat," she said.

"Well anyway, after we fought and beat Moria another warlord showed up. Bartholomew Kuma. But we couldn't beat him. Zoro fought with him and got hurt, then Kuma made a bomb go off and the next thing we knew when we woke up Zoro was bleeding all over the place. It was the worst he's ever been injured. I'm not surprised that he hasn't completely recovered, though he won't admit it."

_That's why it hurt so bad when I fell on him and why he was so pale and exhausted after fighting a bit._

"Poor guy. Now I feel really bad," she said.

"Why?" asked Chopper, slightly confused.

"Well before the marines attacked I kinda fell on Zoro and hurt him pretty bad because of his wounds from Thriller Bark."

"It wasn't your fault Reiko. You didn't know he would be hurt."

"I guess. Well anyway, do you mind if I look over Zoro tonight? Dinner is about ready and you should probably get some rest. You did a good job today Chopper."

"Thanks, and rest does sound really good. Just try to keep him from moving or talking too much when he wakes up. He needs to rest a lot. Call me when he does wake up," he said leaving the room.

"Okay." Then she looked down at Zoro. His bandaged up body made her blood boil and the images of Yamashi and Ankoro creped into her mind. _That bastard Yamashi, always sticking his nose into my business. And that idiot Ankoro, he should know better than to mess with my friends. My friends… That phrase is so strange. I don't think I've ever had any real friends. Not even at home, I didn't fit in there, or anywhere else for that matter. But now I do. These guys make me act differently than I normally would; more like my actual self. But still I stepped out of place today, especially with Ankoro. I don't know why I went overboard and poisoned him. I definitely didn't need to and know he'll be dead soon, unless Yamashi has an antidote for the poison. It's just when he hurt Zoro I couldn't help it. It made me so angry. Ugh! I need to get a hold of myself. I'm getting way too attached to these guys; especially to Zoro. _

She sighed and brought the stool Chopper had been sitting on over to where Zoro was laying. She looked down at him still feeling guilty for his wounds. Sanji opened the door and saw her. She looked up and smiled at him.

"Hey Sanji. What's up?"

"I just came to bring you and that marimo something do eat. You've got to be starving."

"Yeah, I'm pretty hungry." She stood up and walked towards him, taking one of the plates while he placed the other on the counter. That's when he noticed she was wearing new clothes; Nami's clothes as a matter of fact. Her tight shorts, which Reiko had cut a small hole in for her tail, a loose low v tang-top. Sanji's eyes almost bulged out of his head in joy. But then he saw the light pink stain on the white tang-top.

"Reiko, are you hurt?" he gently asked.

She looked up at him, confused for an instant but then the realization came to mind and unconsciously a hand went to her injured side.

"What happened?" Sanji asked very concerned as he walked to her.

"Nothing. Really it's just a scratch," she said trying to brush him away.

"What are you talking about? You're bleeding a lot."

"It's fine. I just got it on the marine ship when I went to save Zoro." _Crap I shouldn't have said that,_ she thought as she awaited Sanji's anger towards the swordsman emerge. She didn't have to wait long.

"What? You got hurt because of this bastard? When he wakes up I'm going to kick his ass."

"Really Sanji you shouldn't be so angry at Zoro it was my fault in the first place. When I caught him in the air I got cut by his sword because I wasn't paying attention," she said smiling slightly but soon it vanished when she realized what she had said and who she had said it to. _Just stop talking Reiko. You're going to get Zoro killed like this!_ She quickly frowned at herself as she heard Sanji rave and rant about killing the green haired swordsman.

"Please relax Sanji. I swear I'm fine. Look I even patched my self up a bit so it wouldn't bleed too much," she said raising her shirt slightly so he could see the bandages on her side. Sanji melted on the inside. "And I'm a werewolf remember. We werewolves heal up really fast on our own so don't worry about it." She pulled her shirt back down and Sanji's love struck smile dimmed.

"Okay well I suppose you're alright. Eat up and get some rest, and make sure that marimo doesn't do anything too stupid."

Reiko giggled slightly.

"Got it. Thanks for the food Sanji I really appreciate it."

He smiled at her and then left the room. She sat back down and crossed her arms on the edge of Zoro's bed. She placed her head on her crossed arms and just stared off into space, thoughts just wafting in her mind. Her sight became fixated onto the steady movement of Zoro's chest and he breathed. The bandages around him making her slightly upset. She mustered the last bit of energy she could and morphed into her werewolf form. She moved very little, hoping not to stretch Nami's clothes too much. She bit her thumb slightly and blood crept out of the small wound. She placed her thumb on top of the bandages covering Zoro's main wound. Her blood soaked into the bandages, she hopped a little of her healing blood might help Zoro heal faster. She morphed back to normal and placed her chin back on her arms. Soon her exhaustion and fatigue caught up with her and she drifted off into sleep. Thoughts of betrayal and loss the last thing in her mind.

**So there we go, I hope you guys like how this chapter went cuz I'm feeling kind of iffy about it; well mainly just the parts with Brook and Franky in them. I know I totally BSed them, but I guess it's ok cuz (sorry for those who are big Franky and Brook fans) they're not going to be a really big part in the fic. Mainly just Reiko, Zoro, Luffy, and maybe Sanji are going to be the main ones to do stuff. But any who, as you can see things are finally going to start heading into the actual story line of the anime. As I said before it's not really gonna be the same but it's going to follow the same story line for a bit, like for example there's…. um… I'll just let you see for yourselves. Also it's going to start to get a bit more angsty as we go and lots more action and funness to go. So tell me what you think about the characters and such, like if I'm sticking to the characters and if I need to put more of a specific character or what not. Anything to make my story better plz and thanks. Also even though I luv Zoro's attack names way better in Japanese I will use the English translations of the names for all of them except Oni Giri just so you guys know. R&R**


	4. Arrival

**Sooooo sorry for taking soo freaking long to update. I've just had tuns on my plate lately but things are going to start getting super interesting in the fic so updates should be coming along really fast… I hope… Anyway since I took soo long to update I tried to make this chapter pretty long. :D! Hope you enjoy! R&R Fair warning there is a decent amount of foul language in this chapter.**

"talking" _thoughts, "singing"_

Chapter 4: Arrival 

Zoro opened his bleary eyes slowly. His vision was blurred and he blinked a few times to regain focus. _Hm… I'm back on the ship._ He looked over to his side and saw Chopper's medicines and medical tools on the counters. _And I'm back in the medical room. Great, just freaking great. What the hell happened? _he thought before sitting up with a muffled groan. His body felt stiff and sore; pain came in waves when he tried to move his jaw in any way. The worst pain came from his abdomen; the familiar ache of his wounds from Thriller Bark reigned over him, but on top of that pain there was a sharp burn and stinging coming from his center. He lifted his left arm from under the covers and pressed it against his stomach slightly wincing and closing his eyes. He quickly opened his eyes when he heard a thud. He looked over his bed to see that Reiko had fallen on to the floor. _What the hell is she doing here?_

Her face had smashed against the floor and she was now sitting up, her eyes shut in pain, rubbing her bruised nose.

"Owww! Ow, ow, ow, ow!" she muttered.

Zoro glanced at her a bit confused. "What the hell are you doing in here?" he asked, annoyed.

She glared at him angrily while gently rubbing the bridge of her nose. "Well before you threw me onto the floor I was sleeping stupid!" she yelled at him.

"I see that!" he yelled back. "But why are you sleeping in here?" he said emphasizing the last two words of his sentence.

She opened her mouth to complain again, but stopped herself mid gesture. Why was she there? She wondered the same thing for a moment until the past events came back to her. _I was in here checking on Zoro. Then Sanji came in and left some food and then I… I… oh crap! Then I fell asleep in here! How embarrassing. _

Zoro could see her slight blush and wondered just what she was thinking about, but then he thought he really didn't want to know as a blush of his own crept on his face. He saw her looking around frantically and he scowled again. "Now what are you doing?" he growled out.

She looked up and him and blinked for a second or so, then she frowned and muttered, "Like I'm gonna tell you, jerk."

"What was that?"

"Nothing! I was just getting up!" She then stood and saw the blanket that had fallen to the floor with her. She picked it up and sniffed carefully. The smell of spices and cigarette smoke quickly filled her nose. Sanji had brought it for her. _That Sanji… I sure hope he doesn't mind the food we left. _That's when she noticed that the plates Sanji had brought before were gone. She also noticed Zoro, completely ignoring her, preparing to get off of the bed. She placed a firm hand on his shoulder stopping him. He glared at her for an instant.

"Look I know you don't like it but Chopper told me not to let you get up or move too much. You probably shouldn't be talking either," she told him.

"Yeah, don't bother. I'm fine," he said, brushing her hand off of him. He slid off the bed and her sensitive ears caught the almost silent grunt that escaped his lips. He straightened and looked for his swords. Quickly finding them, he strapped them to his haramaki. He then grabbed his shirt, which had been set on the counter near his swords, slid it on over his bandaged chest and walked towards the door.

She sighed and tried to stop him again. "Oh come on Zoro! You really did get a beating yesterday and Chopper's gonna kill me if he sees you walking around already. Just go relax a bit. God knows, you need it."

"No. Just leave me be. I'm hungry and I'm going to go get some food," he said reaching for the door, but she quickly slipped in front of him.

"Well I could get Sanji to bring food for you. You really don't need to do anything."

"Hell no! I don't need that pervy cook serving me like I'm a helpless child! Now get out of my way, I already told you I'm fine! Why do you care anyway?" He pushed her out of the way and walked out.

She didn't fight nor stop him. She scowled. _Idiot, you really have more pride than brains._ _Well fine! If you want to kill yourself then go right ahead. I don't care! Right? _She sighed and her indecisiveness. _Doesn't matter anyway, time's running out._ She moved to follow him out but a sudden sharp pain in her side stopped her. She winced and placed a hand to her wounded side. She looked down and saw the pink blood stain on the borrowed white shirt had gotten bigger. _Damn, because there are no windows in here I didn't get any moonlight, which means I didn't heal. It also means I'm going to be out of wak all day. Not to mention if Chopper sees this I'm never gonna hear the end of it. _She looked around for some bandages and quickly found them. She took off the old bandages surrounding her stomach and fixed herself up. Then she washed the small amount of blood off of Nami's shirt and walked out on deck.

When she stepped out onto the deck she took a deep breath and smiled and the fresh ocean air. She could hear the sweet melodies coming from Brook's violin, and hear the small thuds of Franky's hammer hitting against his newest invention out on the top of the deck. She sniffed and was pleased to smell Robin sitting not too far from where she was, reading one of her many books. What she was surprised at was that she couldn't hear Luffy's usual bouncy laughter or any of the common commotion that always seemed to follow him. Focusing her senses on finding her missing crewmates she could quickly assume where both Sanji and Nami where. Sanji was most likely in the kitchen preparing something; this was confirmed by the sweet scents of tea coming from the kitchen. Nami must have been in her room drawing maps or some such things. Reiko wasn't really worried about Nami's location she could always find her later if she needed too. Right now the location of her Captain and the ship's Doctor was what mattered most. Suddenly she heard clattering plates followed by yells of anger and Chopper's quiet squeals of fear emitting from the kitchen. She smirked knowing that both Luffy and Chopper were in the kitchen bothering the love-struck cook. The commotion became louder and she knew they were headed for the door. Reiko then saw Zoro heading toward the kitchen and she smiled evilly waiting for someone to burst out of the kitchen and run into the swordsman, giving him some well deserved punishment for disobeying orders and for his attitude toward her. She paused and watched the coming events.

x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x

Zoro walked toward the kitchen as he heard his stomach growling. He hoped to get some food quickly and without being seen by Chopper so he could head up to the Crow's Nest and do some serious training. _After getting my ass handed to me by a damned marine I need to pick it up. These wounds have made me weak; I've got to get stronger if I'm ever going to face Mihawk._ He growled silently as the images from their first fight rumbled through his head. He was so caught up in his thoughts that he didn't see Luffy, Usopp, and Chopper run out of the kitchen. They bumped into him and nearly knocked him to the ground. Fortunately his balance wasn't completely gone and he turned angrily to face the trio.

"Damn it Luffy! Watch where you're going!" he yelled.

"Sorry Zoro. I didn't see you there," Luffy answered giggling and scratching the back of his head innocently.

"Well next time you should look more carefully idiot!" he growled out, forgetting that he too hadn't noticed the three of them. That's when Sanji came out from behind Zoro.

"Robin-chwan! I brought you some of my special tea for you to enjoy!" he called out, hearts for eyes. He didn't see Zoro right in front of him, and Zoro didn't bother move out of the way since he was still seething at Luffy and the others. Sanji crashed right into Zoro when he ran towards Robin. Both of them ended up of the floor, Sanji toppled on top of Zoro's legs. The hot tea spilled all over Zoro's back and parts of his chest, burning into his injuries. He winced and clenched his teeth, not willing to show weakness in front of his crew, especially the damned cook.

"Bastard! What the hell do you think you're doing, marimo?" Sanji angrily yelled, while standing up.

"Me? It was you're damn fault we got into this mess, curly-brow!" Zoro yelled back, taking off his shirt and trying to strain the tea out of it.

"What the hell are you doing around here anyway shit head?"

"I'm going to go get food asshole!"

"Are you crazy! I'm going to be preparing lunch in a few minutes! You slept through the entire morning!"

Zoro opened his mouth to complain but he suddenly heard a burst of laughter come from behind them. Both he and Sanji looked over to see Luffy and Reiko laughing hysterically. He blushed with embarrassment and anger. "What the hell is so damn funny!"

"Hahahahaha! That was hilarious! Do it again Sanji!" giggled out Luffy, referring to their fall.

Reiko laughed as well, but went to answer Zoro's question. "N…haha…Nothing Zoro. Hahaha… Nothing at…hahahahaha… at all," she managed to muster from between laughs. He growled at her but looked away and began to walk toward the Crow's Nest.

This time it was Chopper who stopped him. Since he had taken his shirt off, his bandages, and the deep blood stains on them, were clearly visible. Chopper had become increasingly worried at seeing Zoro out of bed.

"Zoro, what are you doing up?" he asked quietly, but loud enough to be heard.

"Huh?" Zoro looked back and the little reindeer. "Oh I'm fine so I'm going to go train," he said nonchalantly and then turned back to go to his training area.

"THE HELL YOU ARE!" screamed Chopper, making Zoro sigh and stop once more. "You are in no condition to do anything! After what happened yesterday you shouldn't even be able to talk! None the less train!"

"I'm fine Chopper damn it! I already told you this," he groaned as he felt a headache coming on from all the yelling.

"How can you possibly be alright after what you looked like yesterday idiot," said Sanji lighting up a new cigarette.

"What's that supposed to mean ero-cook!"

"That marine really did a number on you. Reiko-chan had to save your ass and because of that she got hurt," Sanji said calmly.

Reiko's eyes widened. _Damn it Sanji why did you have to say anything. _

"What! Reiko was hurt?" squealed Chopper. He looked at Reiko and she rubbed the back of her neck chuckling slightly, trying to think of what to say.

"Yeah… uh well… you see when Zoro was thrown off the ship I went to go get him and I was being kinda reckless and one of his swords kinda well… it kinda just cut me," she finally managed to say.

"What! You could have been killed!" said Chopper.

She put her hands up to stop the childish doctor. "You really don't need to worry. It was just a little scratch and plus I'm a werewolf. I heal fast ok so no need to worry." _Though I really didn't get a chance to heal at all._

Chopper still ran up to her and began inspecting her. "Where did you get hurt exactly?"

She sighed and lifted her shirt, revealing the bandages. "On my left side," she muttered.

Chopper removed the bandages and revealed the large cut on her side. Every crew member had a different reaction. Luffy's eyes widened and muttered an inaudible "ouch". Usopp's knees trembled and he felt himself get queasy. Sanji's cigarette almost fell out of his mouth as the cut was much worse than he had imagined. _I thought she said she would heal. But that doesn't look good at all,_ he thought worriedly. Robin, who had gotten up after the incident with Zoro and Sanji, watched with the neutral look that she always had. Zoro looked with unbelieving eyes. The cut was deep enough to cause severe problems; he couldn't believe that she would risk her life for him like that. He also couldn't believe that she had gotten that injury by his had, whether it had been accidental or not. Chopper's expression was nothing other than fear and shock as he looked at the deep cut in her side.

"H-how can you say this is a little scratch? This is a bad wound. I don't even know how you were walking so calmly today!" yelled Chopper.

"Zoro was hurt way worse than me and he's walking around like it was nothing. Why is it such a big shock when I do it?"

"Well because…. Because Zoro is just that way. Almost nothing fazes him. He's not normal!"

"And you think I am? I'm a werewolf with devil fruit powers. Zoro's just human."

"She's got a point there," said Usopp.

"Either way I don't want you moving too much. Werewolf or not, you obviously aren't healing quickly enough. Don't move I'll be right back." Then Chopper ran inside to get his medical supplies.

Reiko sighed and sat down. This day was getting worse by the minute. Zoro looked back at her for a second then he walked away before Chopper could get a hold of him.

"Lucky bastard," muttered Reiko when she saw him leaving.

"So why aren't you healing Reiko-chan?" asked Sanji, obviously worried and confused.

"Huh? Oh. Well, werewolves run on moonlight. It's like our life force. And the energy we absorb from the moonlight gets exhausted like regular energy. If I transform back and forth too much or am in werewolf form for too long during the day then the energy is wasted. Also because I have devil fruit powers when ever I focus too much energy into controlling shadows then I waste moonlight energy too. Without that kind of energy I'm pretty much useless. I can't transform and using my shadow powers really drains me. Pretty much I'm as good as if I were underwater. And yesterday I burned every last ounce of power I had. I don't usually have to morph and use my shadow powers at the same time so my body wasn't prepared for it. And because I was inside the medical room all night I didn't get any moonlight energy so I don't have any strength today which means my healing is going to be really, really slow today."

"Ok well this should be enough to hold you together for today. You'll heal alright tomorrow right?" asked Chopper walking out with some bandages and ointments.

"Yup. No worries."

Then Chopper fixed Reiko up. She smiled when he was done wrapping the new bandages around her. She stood up carefully and stretched slightly. Everyone began to get back to their activities. Sanji walked back into the kitchen to prepare lunch. Luffy and Usopp began to walk toward Franky and his "cool looking" cannon, as they had called it. Chopper began to carry his things back to the medical room. Reiko went to join Luffy and Usopp but Robin stopped her.

"May I talk with you Werewolf-san?" she asked politely.

'Uh sure Robin no problem. What do you wanna talk about?"

"Mainly about yesterday's attack. You mentioned you knew these marines. Care to elaborate, so that we can prepare incase they return?"

"Well as I said yesterday they won't be back."

"Yes but it doesn't hurt to be prepared. With this crew's luck we'll be seeing them again."

"Right, well ok. As I said before I was chased by them when I was uh… well on the run so to speak. I was looking around for the Silver Stone of my tribe and some town's folk called the marines on me because of who I was. And well that's it I guess. They chased me around for a couple of islands until they got tired of it and left me alone."

"They just left you be?"

"Yeah. I guess they had better things to do."

"Strange. Well after being chased by them for so long you must know about their abilities."

"You could say that. I already described Ankoro and Yamashi to everyone yesterday."

"Yes I remember. Anyone else? Captain-san mentioned a wind man and Cook-san spoke of a man with a hammer."

"Yes those were Hakimi and Mizuki. Hakimi ate the wind-wind devil fruit and as such he can become the wind itself, but he isn't that smart so he's easy to fool. Then Mizuki uses a huge hammer to squash his opponents. He isn't that bright either but he knows how to use brawns over brains."

"I see. Is that all we should worry about?"

"I think so. All the other marines aren't really that difficult to deal with. The only real problem with them is that there are so many of them. But that doesn't seem to be a problem for you guys."

Robin smiled sweetly. "Thank you Werewolf-san." Then she went back to her books.

Reiko smiled at her slightly and then looked around. _Let's see, I'm kinda in the mood to bug Zoro. _She grinned. _I wonder where he went. _She took a few deep breaths and quickly caught his scent. She looked up to the Crow's Nest and could see the shadow of him lifting his weights. Her grin turned into a smirk as she climbed up the mast. She quietly opened the hatch to the training area. She climbed in, closed the hatch and sat down cross-legged watching him. She knew he had noticed her, though he made no sign of it hoping she would leave. Unfortunately she didn't. She sat there watching him carefully for the entirety of his training session. She didn't make a sound, nor did she question or interrupt him. All she did was watch closely and intently. He didn't really mind the small audience he had. Brook had come up to watch him as well after he joined the crew, except that experience didn't turn out as well as he had hoped for. He brushed away the memories from that moment and continued to focus on his training. But his mind wandered again. He wanted to know what she thought was so interesting in watching him train. He put down the long pole which held the many weights he used and looked at her, sitting down himself. She blinked twice and then smiled closing her eyes.

"This mean you're done?" she asked, looking at him again.

"No."

"Then why'd you stop?"

"Why did you come up here?"

"To talk with you a bit."

He scowled. "Why?"

"Why does it matter? Where Nakama now right? Can't we just talk?"

"No."

She frowned. "Why not?"

"I don't 'just talk'."

"Well you're no fun." He rolled his eyes and went back to his training, assuming she was just up there to bother him. "Hey can I ask you something?"

"You just did."

"You know what I meant."

"What do you want?"

"Well how come you use three swords? I mean I know it's your style and all but why did you chose that style? Couldn't you just have become an expert at single sword style like Mihawk? He is your goal right?"

He looked at her confused. No one had ever asked him such a question. "I just did. With three swords I can use the most of my body's potential. And my goal isn't to imitate Hawkeye, it's to become better than him," he said, not wanting to go into it too much, thinking it was a stupid question.

"Oh. Ok." She looked around somewhat bored again. _He's not really one for conversation is he?_ She saw him again lifting weights. Suddenly her side hurt her and she pressed a hand to it, squeezing slightly and muttering out a small groan. Zoro looked at her slightly worried.

"You okay?" he asked, trying to sound as if he could care less.

"Yeah, everything's just great," she muttered through clenched teeth. When the pain became less intense she opened her eyes and sighed. "Isn't it funny how I'm the one with healing powers and you were hurt way worse than me but I'm the one who feels like crap?" she said looking at him again.

"Maybe you thought I was hurt worse than I actually was," he said, continuing his training.

"Or maybe you have too much pride to show a bit of weakness."

He chuckled. "That too," he admitted to her.

She smiled, knowing she was finally breaking through his defenses. "So how heavy are those things anyway?"

"Heavier than they look," he said grinning at her.

"Really? Well, let's see about that!" She focused hard on the little energy she had and used it to extend her shadow out to grab one of the larger weights. She easily lifted it off the ground. Zoro's face widened with shock. "They're not that bad."

"How the hell…?"

She laughed. "Weight makes no difference to me when I use my shadow. In fact I can lift almost anything with enough focus. It's all about brain power. Brains over brawns. You should really try it some time." He growled at her, but didn't say anything. "I'm really lucky that way with my powers. Unlike Robin's powers, when ever I manifest my shadows, as a shield or as a weapon, what ever damage it sustains doesn't affect me physically."

Zoro smirked, but suddenly he noticed something strange in what she had said. "Wait a minute, how did you know that about Robin's powers?"

Reiko's eyes widened. _Oh crap._ "Uh… well… well Robin was really famous when she was little. She had a big bounty on her head and stuff and well a lot of people know about her powers."

"Yeah but not that."

"Yeah but I uh… I was chased by the marines for a really long time and I learned a couple of things from them. The Sunny isn't the only ship I've hitchhiked on."

Zoro eyed her suspiciously. "Ok." _Something isn't right about her. I can't believe I almost let my guard down around her. I definitely don't trust her at all,_ he thought.

Reiko sighed silently in relief when he looked away._ That was too close. I have to be careful of what I say. At least for a little while longer. I can't get caught just yet._ Her dark thoughts were interrupted when she heard the clicking of hooves climbing up into the Crow's Nest. _Oh man, Chopper can't possibly still want to check on my injuries,_ she thought agitatedly.

As she suspected Chopper opened the door to the Crow's Nest and scrambled in. He quickly looked around until he saw what he was looking for. Then he angrily walked up to Zoro.

"Zoro! What are you doing training? You can't possibly be well enough to do that with your wounds!" he yelled.

Zoro growled. "Chopper I already told you I'm fine damn it!"

"I don't care what you say! You can't possibly be okay after an attack like that! Now sit still!" Chopper commanded.

Zoro groaned but decided it would be better to just let Chopper have his way. He sat there angrily as Chopper inspected his injury. He took off the bandages and his jaw dropped when he saw what was left of the deep injury from before. What had been a gapping hole in Zoro's center was nothing more than just a circular scratch which seemed to be fading away quickly.

"H-how…? How can this be? How could you have healed so fast?" Chopper stuttered. He ran to look at Zoro's back. As on his front, there was only a slight scratch left to remember the wound by.

"See Chopper I'm fine. Now will you quit buggin' me?"

"I… I-I don't understand,"

"I kinda have to do with that," interrupted Reiko.

Zoro and Chopper looked at her slightly confused.

"What do you mean Reiko?"

"Well you see being a werewolf I have special powers that come with the title. Besides being able to turn into a big furry monster, my blood has special qualities when I'm in my werewolf form. For example the color isn't red like human blood, but instead silver. Also it can heal wounds. Well wounds of another person anyway, it can't heal me. So last night when I was with Zoro alone I turned into a werewolf and I let some of my blood mix with Zoro's in his injury. It wasn't a lot of blood and I didn't have a lot of energy, which is why it hasn't healed completely and it's only healed that injury."

"Which means you're still going to be weak from Thriller Bark," concluded Chopper. "Thank you Reiko."

"You really shouldn't be thanking me. I only did what was necessary to help. It was my fault Zoro got hurt to begin with." Zoro nodded a thank you at her. She smiled and blushed a bit. "Well I'll just leave you to your … uh… things Chopper. I'll see you guys later. Plus Sanji should be finishing lunch soon anyway," she said leaving the Crow's Nest.

_Something's up with her. She's hiding something I know it. _That's when Chopper caught Zoro watching the spot where Reiko had been before, deep in thought. Trying to ignore it he looked back to Zoro.

"Okay well I'm going to bandage you up now."

"Yeah whatever," said Zoro, his thoughts on his new mysterious crewmate.

x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x

Reiko floated down to the deck on her shadow. Her nose twitched and the lingering scents of Sanji's cooking wafted around her. _Lunch should be ready soon. What can I do in the mean time? Oh I know, I'll see if I can get some info on where we're going from Nami,_ she thought joyously as she reached the grassy floor. Her shadow returned to its original form and she walked up to Robin.

"Hey Robin, do you know where Nami is? I kinda wanted to ask her something."

"Of course, I believe Navigator-san is in her room. You know where that is right?"

"Yeah. Yesterday she showed me around a bit before lending me some clothes."

"Alright."

"Thanks Robin."

"You're very welcome," said Robin, smiling at Reiko.

Reiko then went on to the women's quarters. She carefully knocked on the door, and when she heard Nami's voice call out to her saying she could pass she quietly opened the door and stepped in.

"Oh, hi Reiko," said Nami, a little surprised to see her new companion coming to see her. It was usually Luffy who interrupted her mapping to ask where they were headed or how long it would be until the next island. Unfortunately enough for her, Reiko had the same questions.

"Hey Nami. I was wondering if you could tell me where we're going. I was just curious is all."

"Oh. Well actually we're going to an island called Mori Island, literally meaning Forest Island. It's where the log pose is pointing at so that's where we're headed. It's got a small down we can dock at and grab supplies until the log pose sets," said Nami looking down to Buggy's map of the grand line.

"Okay great! I can't wait. This is going to be my first real adventure with you guys, I'm really excited."

"Oh you shouldn't really think too much about it, I don't think we'll be staying long," said Nami, laughing slightly._ Though knowing Luffy, he's going to want to explore the whole damn island,_ she thought irritated.

"No worries, any small trip is a full adventure knowing Luffy. He seems eager to do anything besides being cooped up here all day."

"Yeah, well let's just hope he doesn't cause too much trouble this time." Then she remembered something she had wanted to tell Reiko. "Oh and we can buy you a bed there too. I know you spent last night in the medical room with Zoro and Chopper, but this is going to be your room too. Unfortunately we won't get to Mori Island until tomorrow, so you'll have to spend tonight without a bed, though Robin doesn't sleep much so you could sleep in hers."

"Don't worry about that Nami. I was actually hoping to be able to sleep outside."

"What do you mean outside?"

"Well like on deck."

"Why would you want to do that?"

"Well because I'm a werewolf and I need my nightly dose of moonlight. So it would be best for me to sleep outside. Also, on full moon's I always transform into my werewolf form and I'm not always entirely in control of my self." Reiko suddenly saw Nami pale at the idea of having an uncontrollable werewolf on board. "I mean if I'm by myself without people near me then I won't be of any trouble, it's just if there are people near me, I might just… well… attack, or worse." Nami paled considerably and almost toppled backwards. Reiko quickly grabbed her. "But please don't worry! I would never do anything to hurt you guys. And I usually am really tame, even when I'm not in control of myself! I just want to take precautionary measures so no one gets hurt."

"Alright. Just be sure to warn the rest of the crew, we wouldn't want to scare anyone half to death," she said leading Reiko out. "Or worse," she muttered.

x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x

Zoro leaned on the railing of the ship looking out to the sea. His thoughts were on Reiko. He couldn't quite place it but he knew something was wrong, and she was hiding it from them. _I know she's hiding something. And by the way she's been acting it's gotta be big. _He scowled at the thought of her leading them into a trap. _She knows way too much about those marines. And if we had trouble with the crew, how the hell did she single handedly get rid of their captain so easily, there wasn't a scratch on her. Well besides the one from me. _

"Good morning Swordsman-san," Robin said cheerfully.

Zoro growled deep in his chest, the last thing he wanted right now was to be analyzed by her. _What does she want from me now?_ "What?" he snapped, a bit meaner than he intended.

Robin laughed lightly at his anger. "I wanted to speak with you about our newest crewmate."

"What about her?" Zoro asked, now looking at her, interested in what she had to say, though not showing too much interest.

"Well I know I shouldn't be one to say this, but I don't trust her."

_Finally! It's not just me here, _he thought slightly relived. "Me either. I know she's hiding something but I don't know what," he said, looking back at the horizon.

"I agree. I've been trying to get some information on her past with the marines but she is reluctant to talk too much about it. I do believe what ever she's hiding has to do with that."

"Well if you know so damned much already why are you talking to me about it?" Zoro asked, beginning to get irritated at the way she had already discovered more about Reiko than he had.

"Because I need you help of course," she said smiling.

Zoro looked at her confused. "What? Why do you need my help?"

"She seems to enjoy your company more than that the rest of us. And the person she would be most likely to tell her secrets to would be you."

Zoro slightly blushed and looked away. He hated how she could embarrass him so easily. _But she is right. Reiko has wanted to talk with me for a while. _"Fine," he said. "I'll talk to her see if I figure something out." He started to walk away when he suddenly realized he had no idea where she was. "You know where she is?"

"I believe she is with Nami-san."

Zoro grunted and began to walk toward the inside of the ship when Sanji came out. "Nami-swan! Robin-chwan! Reiko-chan! Lunch is ready my darlings!" he called out happily.

"FOOOOD!" yelled Luffy as he ran towards Sanji. Sanji put a foot to Luffy's face stopping him in mid-run.

"Ladies first bastard!" he said

"Thanks Sanji!" said Reiko, who had just walked out with Nami. She, Nami, and Robin walked into the kitchen.

"Of course Reiko-chan, anything for you! Ok, now the rest of you bastards can come in here," he said referring to all the men on the crew, as he walked into the dining hall as well. He almost growled when Luffy ran passed him, practically pushing him to the ground. "Damn it Luffy! Watch where you're going!" he called out.

He could hear Luffy giggle as he said, "Woops, hehe, sorry Sanji." Then he sat down at the head of the table, with Usopp and Chopper to his sides. Sanji sat at the other end so as to be in between Nami and Robin. Franky walked in with Brook, explaining the amazing power of his newest version of the Franky Cannon. He quickly sat next to Chopper with Brook across from him. Zoro scowled when he walked in to see the only free seat between Robin and Brook and across from Reiko. _At least I'm not next to the damn love cook,_ he thought. Once he sat down Sanji scoffed at him and then got up to retrieve the food. He quickly came back and placed a huge platter of meat and fish on the table. Then he put three distinct plates with food in front of Reiko, Robin, and Nami.

"I made these especially for you my dears!" he said charmingly, and sat back down.

"Thanks Sanji!" said Reiko looking at the food hungrily.

"Anything for you Reiko-chan!"

Zoro rolled his eyes at the cook's enthusiasm. Then he quickly grabbed a large steak and placed it on his plate to begin eating.

"So Nami, where are we going?" asked Luffy, a mouth full of food.

Nami sighed at her captain's incompetence. "Well I told this to Reiko earlier, but we're going to Mori Island."

"Where's that?" Luffy asked shoving more meat in his mouth.

"It's just a small forest island. We'll only have to stop there for a few days to stock up on supplies and then we can keep going toward the red line."

The idea of staying at a forest for a few days made Luffy jump out of his seat with excitement. "Yesss! This means I get to go explore! Alright!" he said bouncing up and down.

Nami gestured him to stop while saying, "Now, now, we don't need to be rash about this. We just need to dock at a town, get our supplies and leave, nothing more and nothing less. Got that Luffy? I don't want you running around and causing trouble for us at another island. The marines are already hot on our trail so let's not draw too much attention to ourselves. Okay."

"Got it!" he said giggling and sitting back down.

Nami sighed again but went back to eating her food.

"Hey Nami, why is it that you're the one who always decides where we're going? Huh? Isn't that Luffy's job?" asked Usopp suspiciously.

"What are you talking about Usopp? I'm just doing what Luffy wants. He said go to the red line and that's what we're doing. We just have to stop here first," she answered a bit annoyed.

"Mmhmm. Sure, Nami. But haven't you guys noticed how she's the one always giving us orders. She even gives Luffy orders too! I'm starting to think that you want to be the captain of the ship Nami," commented Usopp slyly.

"Yeah, you're right Usopp. I've been noticing that too," said Chopper rubbing his head.

"What the hell Usopp! How can you even think that! I didn't even want to join this crew at first! How the hell could I be the captain!" Nami yelled at him threateningly.

Usopp put his hands in the air in mock surrender and leaned back in his chair as sweat dripped down his face. _Okay note to self never mention this to Nami ever, __**ever**__ again. Hehe. Man she's scary sometimes._ Usopp looked around trying to find someone to talk to so as to get Nami off of his back. He looked at Franky and his eyes brightened.

"Hey Reiko!"

"Yeah?" said Reiko, as Nami sat back down and went back to her food.

"Have you seen Franky's new cannon? It's really cool and a lot of fun!"

"Yeah! You have to come see it after lunch okay!" said Luffy extremely happy to get to see the large cannon in action again.

Reiko laughed. "Okay, I promise. It sounds like a lot of fun," she said, truly looking forward to spending more time with her captain and the rest of the crew as a matter of fact. Had she really begun to think of him that way? As her captain? She sighed at the idea of getting too comfortable with the Strawhats before their time to separate. Zoro noticed the somewhat distraught look in Reiko's eyes and he quickly glanced at Robin. Robin took the moment to look at Reiko as well. She then nodded to the swordsman so that he would talk to her about it. He growled deeply refusing to make small talk with her in front of the crew. Sanji took the growl as an insult to his cooking.

"What's the matter shit head? Don't like my cooking?" Sanji scoffed.

"What are you whining about now perv-cook?" Zoro yelled back, unsure of what Sanji had meant but not putting much thought into it.

Robin's usual warm smile slightly dissipated as she noticed Zoro wasn't going to be talking with Reiko. So she took the task upon herself.

"Werewolf-san is something the matter?" she asked sweetly.

"Huh?" Reiko looked at her slightly puzzled, and then she realized she must have been showing her true feelings on her face. "Oh nothing at all. Don't worry about it; I was just thinking about stuff. I didn't mean to worry you," she said, hoping to get Robin off of her back.

"What was it you were thinking of if you don't mind me asking? It must have been important if you were so worried about it." Robin said loud enough for everyone to hear, suddenly all conversation stopped so that everyone could hear the news about their new crewmate. In truth everyone had been curious about Reiko's past and the idea of it finally being revealed gnawed at the curiosity of every member of the crew.

Reiko, noticing the awkward silence, raised her hands up quickly and waved them around trying to get everyone's attention away from her. "No, really guys! It's nothing at all! Just some thoughts about, uh…, um about tonight is all, it's almost a full moon and I really need some moon light and uh, I was just wondering if uh, if Nami had told you about some issues with the full moon!" she squealed out trying to get everyone to focus on anything but what she had really been thinking about. Luckily her words made everyone turn to Nami, who suddenly blushed and held the same look Reiko had only moments ago.

"What's she talking about Nami?" asked Luffy, once again stuffing his face, but paying very close attention to what his navigator was going to say.

"Oh nothing really! It's just Reiko is going to be sleeping outside from now on," she said.

"What! Nami you monster! How could you throw poor Reiko out like that! Are you so selfish you can't even share your room with her while the rest of us have to all bunk together!" Usopp called out.

Nami quickly hit him on the head knocking him down to the floor. "You idiot! She's the one who chose to sleep outside to begin with! I offered, but she said it would be better for her to sleep outside anyway."

"Why's that?" asked Chopper innocently.

"Well we all know Reiko is a werewolf and on full moons well… um…" Nami tired to find a way to break the news of a possible killer on the crew.

"I could kill everyone here without even realizing it," Reiko calmly sated. This made Usopp, Chopper, Brook, and Nami (even though she already knew this) jump up in fear, with comic tears in streaming down their faces.

"Ooooooooohhh. That makes sense. Okay then," was Luffy's reply to that. Reiko smiled at her captain's acceptance.

Usopp quickly stood up and began yanking on one of Luffy's puffed up cheeks. "How the hell can you say that! She could very well kill us all and you're okay with that!" he yelled.

"Yup. Why is there something wrong?" Luffy calmly stated.

That's when Nami came up on his other side and grabbed his free cheek. "Yes there's something wrong! She could kill us all and that is a big problem!" she yelled in his ear.

"Yeah but you weren't worried about I before so you must have fixed it right?" Luffy asked as if the answer were the most obvious thing in the world.

Nami let go of his cheek realizing that what he had said was true. "Yeah. Well as I was trying to say before Reiko will be sleeping outside for two reasons. One she needs moonlight to function. And two during a full moon she doesn't have control over her powers so she could easily mistake one of us for food. But if she's outside by herself then she won't come after any of us. That's also why she's going to have the shift every full moon."

Usopp swallowed hard but then nodded a shaky head and said, "O-o-okay. If it's okay with both of you then I guess it can't be that bad."

"Great! Hehe! Now Sanji bring me more meat!" Luffy yelled happily.

Sanji sighed, but complied. The rest of lunch passed by quickly with a lot of chatter.

x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x

**Several Hours Later**

Reiko stared out into the sunset. Her head rested on top of her crossed arms over the railing. She sighed as the uncomfortable feeling that had been creeping and crawling inside of her grew in size and made her nauseous with guilt and fear. But the fear wasn't for her self. It was for the way her crew would look at her once they found out the truth. Her lie was about to burst and she didn't want it to come. She thought back to all the enjoyment she had felt in the short time with the crew. Luffy had always found a way to make her laugh and pull down her defenses. Nami seemed to enjoy her company, probably for the fact that there was another female on the crew which she could talk with. Usopp, though still scared of her quite a bit, had opened up and shown her several of his secrets, including his Sogeking mask which he had used to save Robin from CP9. Sanji was still head over heels for her, even though she could tell he preferred Nami of all the females on the crew. Chopper was adorable and even though he could pester her with her injury she knew she had become a friend to him. Robin seemed to want to know more about her past than Reiko felt comfortable with, but she had revealed being an enemy to the Strawhats before joining them. That had made Reiko feel a bit better of her situation until she realized Robin had never completely betrayed the crew. Franky didn't really seem to note any change with Reiko in the crew and had treated her just like any other member, gloating about all of his new inventions and hoping to gain the interest of all crew members. Brook still ran for cover when he saw her, because of the first thing she'd actually said to him, but after a while he warmed up to her and explained how he too had had a difficult time when he first joined the crew and that she had nothing to worry about when he had noticed her sulking around the deck. And Zoro, that damn Zoro. She cursed him for the way he made her feel. When ever he came close to her he made warm bubbles and butterflies flutter in her stomach and up to her throat to the point where she could barely breathe. She had never felt like that around anyone else. She sometimes found her self watching him and her view drifting around his body, especially when she caught him training. But she could tell he didn't trust her, he didn't even like her, and it made her angry. But it also hurt. Of everyone on the crew she wanted him to be the one to trust her. To enjoy her company and she had almost reached that back when she had been the Crow's Nest with him but being so comfortable with him had made her clumsy and careless and she had let her self slip, which made him even more suspicious of her. But those few moments of trust had been wonderful.

She could feel the tears in her eyes and she buried her face in her arms to try to wipe them away and hide her anguish. She could feel her skin and her hair tingling as the sun finally set and the moonlight took over. The soft and warm buzz let her drift off to sleep.

x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x

Luffy huffed as he waited for Sanji to bring them dinner. After a few seconds he moaned and then a few more seconds passed before he groaned and huffed again. Zoro scowled at him to make him stop but Luffy didn't seem to notice. He groaned once more before saying "SANJIIII! Where's the food!" in the whiniest tone he could manage.

Sanji pulled his head out of the kitchen to look at the obnoxious boy. "I already told you Luffy, we aren't eating unless everyone is at the table!" he growled out.

"Yeah right. Last week you guys started eating without me. By everyone he means every girl," Usopp muttered out to Chopper, with his face resting on his hand agitatedly.

"What was that Usopp!" snapped Sanji.

"N-nu-nothing Sanji! Nothing at all," he blurted out with a nervous laugh.

"Yeah that's what I thought," Sanji growled and went back into the kitchen.

Zoro sighed. "Damn woman. Where the hell could she be?" asked Zoro to no one in particular, referring to Reiko. Sanji had called everyone to dinner but Reiko had never shown up and now everyone was waiting for her so they could eat.

"Don't you dare talk about Reiko-chan like that!" scowled Sanji, once again coming out of the kitchen. Zoro growled at him but just looked away afterwards, not in the mood to get into a pointless argument with the stubborn love-struck cook.

Robin sighed once more until she decided she was tired of waiting. "Swordsman-san, how about you go find our missing companion," she calmly stated hoping he could get some more information when he went to find her as well.

"What!" he and Sanji asked at the same time.

"It would be a faster way of getting her here would it not?" said Robin.

"NO way! You can't expect this shit-head to know how to escort a lady to dinner. You can't be serious Robin-chwan," pleaded Sanji.

"Yeah, why the hell do I have to go any way? Curly-brow over here seems to be the best bet for the job," said Zoro pointing his thumb behind him toward Sanji.

"Cook-san needs to watch over the food so Luffy-san doesn't eat it all," she answered.

"Come ooooonnnnn Zoooroooooo!" groaned Luffy, looking pathetically weak sprawled across the table. "Just go get her so I can have some meat!" he commanded and Zoro frowned, grumbled something, and then stood up and walked out to find their missing Nakama.

x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x

There she stood, in the middle of them all, their hateful and pained eyes watching her with disgust and distrust. She tried to move to them, answer their haunting glares with sorrowful apologies. But all she could do was fall to her knees as shame and guilt took over her body, paralyzing her. She could see the dark images of each and every one of them; the Strawhat that belonged to the captain of the ship, the three swords of the first mate, the slim figure of the navigator, the long nose of the marksman, the small cigarette that stuck out of the cook's mouth, the small body of the reindeer doctor, the archeologist's long hair and cowboy hat, the large arms that fitted the ship hand, and the skeletal figure matched with an afro belonging to the musician.

They all watched unmoving as sea stone chains lined with silver erupted from the ground underneath her and quickly took their positions on her wrists, ankles, and around her neck. Now bound and with no power, Reiko looked up to see the marine captain Yamashi standing before her. She could see the slick smirk creep on to his face and a shiver ran down her spine, bristling the fur on her tail.

Yamashi pulled out his sword and the shadows covering her former comrades skulked away. Now she could see they were bound just as she was, prisoners, like her, because of her. Yamashi slowly went to each and every one of the bound Strawhats. First the captain. Yamashi thrust his sword into Luffy's back until it came out of his chest and blood followed. He then ripped it back out and sliced Luffy in half, letting his upper body drop to the ground, blood and organs bursting from the wounds. Before he hit the ground Luffy weakly looked at her and in his eyes she could see the most torturous question of all. Why? Then he dropped dead on the ground. Yamashi moved on to Brook and did the same thing, with Brook looking at her before death with the same question. Then Yamashi continued onto Franky, then Robin, Chopper, Sanji, Usopp, Nami. All dead, and as each of them died the same question was voiced in Reiko's head. Why? Why had she done it? Why did she betray the only true friends she had ever had?

She looked down to the ground and dug her nails into the dirt as tears burned down her face as the question haunted her and burned through her skull. In truth she didn't know why she had done it. It made no sense to her. She searched for the answer but there was nothingness and the voices of her fallen friends asking her why throbbed in her head, making focus impossible.

She suddenly burst out screaming, "I don't know! I don't know damn it! Just leave me alone! I'm soo sorry, I just don't know." The last words were soft and almost silent.

"What the hell is that supposed to mean!" growled a deep voice.

Reiko looked up and almost squealed in joy to see Zoro still alive. "Zoro!"

He frowned at her, eyes filled with hate. "How the hell can you not know why you just let them all die!" he roared.

More tears reached her eyes as his words stung her. "Zoro, I …I just… I don't know," she muttered out.

"Don't give me that crap!" he snapped. "You're nothing but a coward and a traitor. How any of us could ever have thought of you as Nakama is a joke! How can you fucking live with yourself after doing something like this! You're a monster just like everyone thinks you are!" he growled again, making more pain stricken tears run down Reiko's face.

"Zoro I'm… I'm sorry," she softly whispered.

"You better be," he told her before Yamashi stuck his sword through Zoro's own chest and he groaned in pain.

"NO! Zoro!" called Reiko, pulling on her chains. His limp body fell to the ground, but his eyes still held the very angry and very alive look that burned into her before she too fell to the ground sobbing.

Reiko awoke with a start. Her head shot up from her crossed arms. She looked around confused and afraid for a few moments until she realized that she was on the Thousand Sunny. A deep sigh of relief escaped her as the scents of her crewmates and the food burning on the stove crept into her nose. She let her head drop again on her arms. It was only a dream; a realistic and painful nightmare, but just a dream none the less. The images of her nightmare flashed in her mind and she quickly shut her eyes to try and prevent the fresh tears from coming out again.

She was so caught up in her memories that she didn't notice a frustrated Zoro come out onto the deck. He grumbled to himself angrily, looking around in the dark to see if he could spot Reiko. He soon saw her and he quickened his pace to reach her sooner.

"Hey! Reiko! Dinner's ready come on damn it! Everyone is waiting for you to show up so we can eat," he said impatiently.

She suddenly looked up to him, surprised. "I'm not going," she said before looking away again, hoping he hadn't seen her tears.

Zoro's eyebrow quirked up in a confused gesture and he walk closer to her. "What the hell is that supposed to mean?" he said frustrated.

His words, almost an imitation of what he had told her in her dream, sent a pang of guilt and pain through her as she realized that while that had been a dream; she would still betray them in reality. Anger flared up inside of her and she glared at him, tears streaming down her face. The tears mixed with the moonlight reflecting on her face made it seem like her eyes glowed yellow.

"I said I'm not coming damn it! I just want to be left alone!" She looked down again. "I need to be alone," she muttered.

Zoro raised an eyebrow in confusion, glared at her, and then snorted and said, "Fine." Then he walked back to the kitchen. He tried to ignore what he had just witness. _If she wants to starve it's not my fault. _But he couldn't help but wonder. _She was crying, though. Why? Maybe it has to do with what she's hiding. _Once he walked into the kitchen everyone's eyes brightened and then dimmed noticing Reiko was not with him.

"Oy, where's Reiko, Zoro?" asked Luffy confused.

"She's not coming," he simply stated.

"What? Why not?" growled Sanji.

"She's not feeling well."

"Then maybe I should go check. I knew you didn't know how to handle a woman," Sanji muttered as he started walking out.

Zoro, now seated, grabbed his arm and Sanji glared at him. "Don't," he said sternly, and Sanji, regretfully, turned around and brought out the marvelous dinner he had prepared.

The dinner went by quickly but quietly. No one seemed to want to talk and the mood was a slowed and dank pace. The only noise that could be heard were the waves smashing against the ship and Luffy's munching as he thrust yet another piece of meat into his mouth. Everyone's appetite, except Luffy's of course, had vanished and no one seemed to know what to do, so they all sat there watching Luffy eat. It was Nami who decided to break the silence.

"I'm worried about tonight; mainly because of Reiko," she said. Everyone looked at her slightly confused. "I mean if she was in such a bad mood that she wouldn't come to eat, and it's almost a full moon then how do you think she's going to react tonight if anyone tries to talk to her? I'm just thinking that we should get to bed early tonight and give her some space," she said standing up and pushing her plate more toward the center of the table.

Usopp stood up trembling. "Y-yeah I think it's a good idea too. I'm going to bed now," he quickly said before heading to the door to leave.

"Yeah me too," said Chopper and Brook in unison as they followed Usopp out.

Sanji sighed and rolled his eyes while Robin stood up and began to accompany Nami to the door. Luffy puffed up his cheeks and crossed his arms over his inflated chest.

"I don't wanna go to bed," he grumbled.

Nami hit him on the head as she passed by him. "Just do it, so we can give Reiko some space. Besides, tomorrow we'll be at the new island and you can run around and explore all you want."

"Wahoo!" he said jumping up from his seat and running out the door to the men's quarters.

Zoro stood up as well and said, "Do you really think it's such a good idea to let her be the one out there on watch tonight?"

"You're right. She's not thinking straight right now. But it's my turn…." she thought worriedly. "Hey Zoro! Since you're so worried about it how about you take my shift tonight!" she said before quickly leaving the room.

"Wha-?" he grumbled before remembering that he actually wanted to see Reiko; he needed to ask her several things. He quickly marched out to the deck.

He was surprised to see her sitting next to the mast with her back to him. The moonlight was hitting her so perfectly that he could clearly see her. He noticed that her tail was longer and furrier as was her hair, and her wolf ears seemed to have gotten larger. As he stepped closer to her he could hear her sniff a few times before she turned to face him. Then he realized that he hadn't imagined the yellow glow in her eyes from before, they really were glowing yellow.

"Zoro, what are you doing here?" she asked him, standing up. She was now indeed as tall, if not taller, than he was. He had been a good 3 inches taller than she was before, how was it that she equaled him now? He also saw that her hair came down in a sharp widow's peak on her forehead which was much larger than the small peak she had use to have.

"I… uh… it's um my shift," he said trying not to stare at her more vicious looking image. Not only was she taller and more wolf looking but her nails were now longer and sharper, and when she talked he could see that her canines had also grown a decent amount so that they created difficulty speaking with clarity, making her own voice seem more vicious. But her words were still soft and gentle, as if she were worried that even her words could hurt him.

"Oh, right," she said noticing that he had changed his shirt so that he was now wearing a button up collar shirt with red and white stripes. He had left it open and taken off his bandages so she could clearly see his muscular chest. She blushed and looked away, gently crossing her arms over her chest.

He walked behind her, intent on getting information out of her. "Hey," he said making her turn around again. "Um… do you always look well… like…" he said, not knowing how to phrase it.

"Like a monster?" she finished for him. He nodded once. "Yeah. My werewolf side comes out more when the moonlight hits me so I look like this every night pretty much. Except full moons or new moons because on a full moon I go full werewolf and on a new moon there's no moonlight to make my transformation happen."

"Oh," he said sitting down with his back leaning on the mask, to make it appear as if he wasn't really focused on what she said; when in reality she had his full attention.

She silently sat down next to him, though being weary to keep herself far enough away from him not to cause harm nor intrude in his space.

"Zoro, you didn't tell anyone what you saw before did you?"

He looked at her and then looked away. "No. I've been meaning to ask you about that. Was there a reason you didn't want to come to diner?" he said closing his eyes, seeming as if he had no interest.

"I was upset," she said looking forward.

"Well that explains the crying," he chimed in.

"I just, well I had a nightmare."

"So a nightmare stopped you from coming to eat dinner with the rest of us?"

"Yes and no. It's kind of hard to explain."

He said nothing. They sat in a comfortable silence, enjoying the cool night breeze. Eventually Reiko began to snuggle closer to Zoro, so that their shoulders were touching and simultaneously supporting each other.

"You know, you guys are the first real friends I've ever had," she whispered.

"Hmm? What do you mean?" he asked now looking at her.

"Well I've just never had friends; I've never fit in well enough to be able to have them."

"What about your home?"

"Why do you think I left? I didn't even fit in with my pack. I was always different, even before I ate the devil fruit. See most werewolves aren't very adventurous, in fact it's a rare sight to see one outside of their region, even less out of their island. But I always wanted to go out and explore and well have fun. Unfortunately my actions usually brought shame and disgrace and all that crap on my family. Typical right? Well the only way I could bring honor back to my family was by passing the rights of strength and cunning. These are like tests that you have to pass when you become a certain age to go into adult hood so to speak. If you fail it's not really a big deal, you just try again the next year and that's that, sure you get made fun of a bit by your comrades and stuff but that's life. But what I did was way worse than failing."

"What did you do?"

"I refused to do one of the tests; I said I would never ever do that test. And refusing to pass the rights is the most shameful thing you can do," she said looking down at her hands, which lay in her lap.

"If you knew it was so bad to do that then why did you do it?" he asked.

"Because it was the right thing to do at the time."

"What do you mean?"

"Well I went off to do the first right, the right of cunning. For this right you need to spend four days out in the wilderness surrounding the village, but not going out farther than your tribe's region. Unfortunately for me, I couldn't help myself but to explore. In fact I went off to an enemy's jurisdiction. I was only trying to have fun and have a bit of adventure, but it didn't really work out for me. While I was hiding in a cave in the enemy tribe's land I found a devil fruit. Now I had gone two days without eating and I was really hungry so yeah I went and ate it, it tasted horrible and I almost threw up and nothing seemed to come out of it, except that now I was hungry and I had a disgusting taste in my mouth. I also didn't know how I was going to get by home without getting spotted by one of the wolves from the rival tribe. But the next day, which was my third day, I started noticing my shadow powers, and with them I was able to sneak back to my village just in time for my right of cunning to be complete."

"So I'm guessing it's the next right is the one you skipped out on."

"Yeah. The right of strength is a test in which you have to fight one of the other 'cubs' trying to pass the right. Whoever wins the fight passes and who looses doesn't."

"That seems simple enough, so why did you run from it? I never would have thought of you as a coward," he said, slightly surprised.

"Well when I came to the right, I had already learned how to basically handle my new powers, which gave me a strong edge against my enemy."

"So?"

"So, werewolves are a lot about honor and doing the honorable thing, it's one of the things I really wasn't good at, like I said I dishonored my family a lot. So fighting with an advantage so strong against an unknowing opponent was something even I couldn't do."

"So why didn't you just tell them you had a devil fruit power?"

"Because then I would have to tell them where I got it from. Just because werewolves barely go explore out of their regions doesn't mean they don't know what's in their land. They knew exactly what fruits and vegetation grew in our lands and devil fruits are not one of them. The only way I could have found one was by going into another tribe's lands, and that's what I did, but the worst part was I went into the Bloodclaw tribe's territory," she said with disgrace lingering in her voice.

"That's the other tribe on your island that your clan is fighting against right?"

"Exactly. They're just the people I'm not supposed to be taking things from and I took a forbidden fruit and ate it. But I wasn't about to tell that to my whole clan and disgrace them all. I would have been kicked out of the island if I did that. So I just quit the match so that no one would find out. This means that I would be a pup forever unless I decided to pass the exam at a later time, which I refused to do. Not only was I made fun of and insulted for this, my parents were too. I had shamed my family but that's not the worst of it. Another werewolf, around my age saw me practicing my shadow powers one day and decided to report me to the council. So I went to trail and I confessed to my powers and where I had gotten them from. After that I was shunned and forced to leave the island. But before I left I swore to my family that I would redeem them by bringing back the Silver Stone of our clan that resides in the One Piece. As a kid I was told that Gol D. Roger came to our island and my clan gave him the stone as a gift for fighting off the Bloodclaw tribe with us, and I intend on getting it back to my clan and revealing the secrets it hides so we can push back the Bloodclaw's," she said with a stern voice.

"That's a good goal," commented Zoro, taking in all the things she had said to him.

"Yeah, but…. I don't even know if I'll ever accomplish it," she said, tears now forming in her eyes because of her feelings of helplessness. "I don't think I'll ever make it that far!" she sobbed. "My first week out of the island and I was already being chased around like an animal and I've never gotten anywhere closer in the three years I've been gone! The only reason I'm even in the grand line is because my island resides here so I didn't have to do much! And everything I do always seems to hurt people I care about!" She cried some more at her clogged feelings, and Zoro tenderly put an arm around her shoulders to try and calm her. She leaned into him and her crying softened.

"But ever since I joined this crew, I really feel like I've had a shot at actually finding the One Piece. Because here I have real friends, and I thank you all for that."

"You're welcome," he muttered.

Those few words unlocked some more emotion in her as she realized that he too considered her a friend, probably for the first time. She sniffled a couple of times before bringing a hand to her face and whipping away her tears.

"I'm sorry you had to see me cry twice already. I know it must make me look pathetic," she said smiling a little bit, her eye closed with drowsiness.

"Don't worry about it," he told her and she nodded slightly.

He could feel her relax and her tense muscles release as she fell asleep beside him. He kept his arm wrapped around her shoulders as he thought about what she had said. _She's not hiding anything from us; she's just being protective of herself. After everything she's gone through trust is a hard thing to just give out. And now that I think about it, she's a pretty good addition to the crew. After all she's been through the least I can give her is my trust,_ he thought looking out into the darkened but starry sky.

x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x

Reiko woke up slowly as the sun rose and the moonlight drifted away. She could feel herself go back to her normal form. Her fangs and claws shrunk back to regular teeth and nails. Her fur and hair shortened in length and became softer. She blinked her eyes open, yawned softly and closed her eyes again snuggling closer to Zoro. Then her eyes shot open in surprise. She moved away and looked at the sleeping swordsman. His face was calm and relaxed and he was snoring normally. She smiled when she realized he still had his arm around her shoulders. She was about to fall back asleep beside him when she remembered that the rest of the crew would be getting up soon and certain crewmates would be eager to make fun of the swordsman if they caught them like that. So Reiko carefully pulled away, making sure not to wake the swordsman, and went over to a shady corner on the ship. She turned into a wolf and curled up falling back asleep easily.

x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x

"I SEE THE ISLAND!"

Those were the words Zoro woke up to. He sighed, yawned, and stood up looking out to where his captain was jumping up and down excitedly. He was on the lion figure head dancing with Chopper, who for some reason was just as excited as the childish captain. Zoro sighed and walked to the front of the ship, joining his crew. They were headed for the forest island Nami had spoken about the day before. From this distance they could all see the island was indeed covered in forestry. But they could also see a small down where they could dock, which was, what Zoro assumed, where they were going.

Reiko saw him walk up with his arms crossed and smiled at him before looking back to the island. He pretended not to see it and hoped that it didn't mean that she had told everyone about the small moment of compassion that he had shown her. Fortunately none of the crew seemed to know so he was safe for now. He crossed his arms over his chest and walked up closer to the figure head to get a better view of the island. They would be docking in a matter of minutes with the force the wind was blowing.

"Well we'd better get ready to dock. Everyone, get to your stations," said Nami.

"See what I told you Chopper. She's bossing us all again," whispered Usopp and it made Chopper giggle.

Nami, who had heard them, glared at them with an angered and fiery stare. They began to cower behind Zoro's legs and he scowled at them before kicking them off and walking to get the anchor.

It didn't take long for them to dock and pay the small docking fee and once everything was settled Luffy began to get jittery. He so desperately wanted to go explore the massive forests of the Grand Island, but for whatever reason that he couldn't come up with, Nami refused to let him anywhere off of the ship. Either way he tried once more to convince the stubborn navigator.

"Pleeeeeeeeaaaaaassssseeeeee Nami!" he pleaded. "Just five minutes to explore. I promise I won't do anything stupid."

"Coming from you I can't trust you! Like I said before we don't need to draw anymore attention to ourselves so just stay here until the log pose sets and then we can go to the red line," she said looking away without a second thought. He crossed his arms and pouted looking away from Nami.

Reiko smirked and then crouched by Luffy and whispered in his ear, "You know you are the captain, witch means if you really want to go then you can."

Luffy's eyes perked up and he jumped up happily giggling once more. "Thanks Reiko!" he said and he jumped off of the ship and onto the docks. He began to run and say "I'm going to explore I'll be back in a little bit!"

"The hell you are Luffy!" yelled Nami as she too jumped off the ship and began to follow him.

"*sigh* Nami-san is so beautiful when she's chasing someone viciously," Sanji stated with a love struck voice and hearts in his eyes.

"Well if Luffy's going off to adventure I think I'm going to go buy some new clothes since mine's all ripped up and I don't think Nami will appreciate me using her clothing all the time," said Reiko heading for the railing.

"One moment werewolf-san," said Robin as she walked back into the ship's bowels. She came out a few moments later holding a purple cowboy hat in her hands. "Use this, so you don't scare off any villagers," she said handing it to Reiko.

"Oh right good idea," Reiko said putting it snugly over her head.

"Sure that hides her freaky ears but what about that tail of hers?" asked Usopp, not too convinced.

"Oh well that's easy." Reiko then wrapped her tail around her waist so that it seemed to simply be a fuzzy belt. "See no problem." Then she jumped off of the ship and began walking toward the center of the town.

"Do you think she'll be okay? I mean the marines are after her," said Chopper slightly worried.

"The marines are after us too stupid! She'll be fine," said Usopp nodding his head in a makeshift knowingly way.

"Ahh okay," said Chopper. "Well what do the rest of us do?"

"Just wait I guess. That shit swordsman is probably asleep already," said Sanji, turning and heading back to the kitchen.

"Or he could be walking into town," said Usopp watching as Zoro walked quietly away from the ship and into the small town.

"What? That idiot is going to get lost again!" yelled Sanji. "Oy! Marimo! Where the hell do you think your going?"

Zoro turned around. "I'm going for a walk."

"You'll get lost again!"

"The hell I will, it's a small enough town. I won't get lost," he said before walking away.

Sanji fumed for a few seconds before saying, "Fine!" and then returning to his kitchen to try and calm his temper. Usopp and Chopper looked at each other slightly afraid and slowly shrunk away looking for Franky, to perhaps protect them incase the cook came out exceedingly angry.

x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x

Reiko walked to the door of a small bar. She had bought a new baggy white blouse with the sleeves rolled up just over her elbows and some baggy military green kakis with several blotchy pockets. Her tail could easily hide under shirt if she wrapped it around her waist casually. She sniffed just outside the door and finding the scent she needed she walked in carefully. The young bartender looked up from his book momentarily, but when he saw her just looked back down and said "What can I help you with?"

Reiko let her tail drop from her waist and took off Robin's hat. "I was wondering if you could answer a few questions," she said slowly and sternly.

At the sound of her voice the young man chilled and looked up. His face went into a shocked look when he saw her tail and ears. He seemed to completely recognize her. "Reiko-sama?" he muttered out his eyes locked with hers.

x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x

"Awww Nami can't we just stay for a little longer?" complained Luffy as Nami dragged him by the cheek back to the Thousand Sunny.

"You can stay on the ship! We don't need more supplies and we definitely don't need you running around causing trouble!" she scolded just as the ship came into perfect view.

"Hey guys! Just in time!" called out Reiko, waving her hands out to get Nami and Luffy's attention. She was once again wearing Robin's hat with her tail tucked in under her shirt.

"No fair why didn't Reiko need to go with someone?" complained Luffy once more.

"Because she doesn't need baby sitting!"

They reached the ship and Reiko decided to tell them all of her idea. "Okay guys listen up!" she said calling everyone to the deck. She took off Robin's hat, handing it back to her, and let her tail relax. "When I was around town I heard about this nice wide open field in the forest. And I asked around about it and this one guy gave me directions and I was thinking that maybe we could have a picnic there. What do you think?" she offered up.

"I think it's a wonderful idea my dear! What could be better than a romantic picnic with you!" wooed Sanji.

"Hmm. A picnic does seem nice, and this way Luffy can at least get to run around. Sure I think it's a good idea," said Nami.

"Wahoo! Adventure! This is a great idea Reiko!" squealed Luffy jumping around.

"Yohoho! It will be wonderful to be able to play my violin out on a day like this," said Brook rushing back to get his violin.

"Great so we can get going as soon as possible," Reiko said grinning widely.

"Wait a minute you guys, we have to wait for Zoro to get back," said Chopper, a little bit worried for the green haired man's safety.

Reiko and Sanji both looked at Chopper with annoyed glares. "Ugh typical of that idiot to go get lost! We'll have to go find him and who knows how long that could take," grunted Sanji.

_Damn it Zoro._ "If me and Chopper go we can find him faster. I can track him by his scent. You too right Chopper?"

"Yeah. That's a good idea," he said.

"Okay so we'll go, just prepare everything and then get going. Chopper and I will meet you guys there with Zoro as soon as we can," Reiko said handing them a map with the location of the open field clearly identified.

"Alright! Let's go!" said Luffy excited to actually get a chance to explore. Chopper and Nami laughed at Luffy's joyfulness and Reiko smirked at him.

"Okay Chopper let's try and find Zoro quick," she said jumping off board.

"Right!" Chopper said following her.

She turned into her wolf form and Chopper imitated her, turning into his reindeer form and galloping after her. Reiko sniffed three times before actually catching a whiff of Zoro's scent. She looked at Chopper, who confirmed her suspicions with a quick nod. Then she stuck her nose to the ground and began following the familiar scent. As they passed through town there were several confused glances directed their way. They could even hear the whispers.

"Hey look at that!" the town's people would say.

"Strange isn't it? Since when do reindeers follow around wolves? Shouldn't it be the other way around?"

"Oh just ignore it. That wolf has got to be messed up in the head or something. Besides there are plenty of strange animals in the forest. Maybe it's just trying to find its way back to the forest, just forget about it."

Reiko had to hold her laughter in so as not to frighten the town's people. "Where getting close Chopper," she whispered. He nodded and just as they turned they saw Zoro. What they didn't expect to see was him with his swords unsheathed.

He was facing way from them and had Shuusui and Sandai Kitetsu in each hand and he seemed to be prepared to fight. Reiko and Chopper sneaked closer and saw that he was facing off against a few marines.

"Chopper we don't want him to make too big of a ruckus do you think you could help him finish them up fast?"

"Sure Reiko," he said as he ran to Zoro. Zoro saw him and glared at him.

"What the hell are you doing back here?" he growled out.

"Reiko and I came here to find you."

"Reiko?" muttered out one of the marines. He and his partner looked behind Chopper to see Reiko leaning on the wall of a building that was hidden in the shadows. Her arms were crossed over her chest and her tail was whooshing dangerously around her legs. They could see she was glaring at them and her ears were extremely stiff and alert. When she made eye contact with them she shook her head slightly. They began to tremble in fear and then ran off. Zoro, upset that there hadn't been a fight, scowled and then walked back to Reiko, who pushed herself off of the wall.

"I didn't need your help," he said, a bit irritated.

"I never said you did. But everyone is waiting to have a picnic and I was just trying to get this done as fast as possible and with the least amount of damage. I'd say I did my job," Reiko responded.

"Whatever. Let's just go," said Zoro walking past her.

"Why do you think they ran off Reiko?" asked Chopper innocently, now in his normal form again.

"I guess they got scared cuz they were out numbered. That or maybe they're scared of a werewolf," she told him catching up to Zoro.

"One of them seemed to know you," Chopper commented.

"Yeah well I seem to be pretty infamous around marines. They were looking for me before."

"Oh yeah."

It didn't take long for them to reach the clearing. The rest of the crew was waiting for them.

"Supah! You guys made it!" Franky said sipping a cola.

"And just in time. Sanji was just about to bring out the food since Luffy was complaining so much!" said Usopp.

"Yay! Food!" said Chopper running up to where the rest of the crew was sitting.

Zoro followed and sat down. Reiko joined him. They all ate comfortably as Brook played the well known song, Binks' Sake.

" _Yohohoho, yohohoho. Yohohoho, yohohoho, "_ he began. _" Binkusu no sake wo, todoke ni yuku yo, umikaze kimakase namimakase, shio no mukou de, yuuhi mo sawagu, sora nya wa wo kaku, tori no uta, sayonara minato, tsumugi no sato yo, DON to icchou utao, funade no uta, kinpa-ginpa mo shibuki ni kaete, oretachya yuku zo, umi no kagiri. " _

As soon as the second verse started the rest of crew decided to join in. _" Binkusu no sake wo, todoke ni yuku yo, warera kaizoku, umi watteku, nami wo makura ni, negura wa fune yo, ho ni hata ni ketateru wa dokuro, arashi ga kita zo, senri no sora ni, nami ga oduro yo, DORAMU narase, okubyoukaze ni fukakerya saigo, asu no asahi ga nai ja nashi. Yohohoho, yohohoho. Yohohoho, yohohoho. " _

Brook continued till the end of the song while the rest of the crew rested. Luffy and Usopp were sitting asleep with their backs to each other, simultaneously keeping each other upright. Chopper was asleep in their laps, while Franky drank cola listening to Brook. Robin was reading and Sanji was putting sun lotion on Nami's back. Zoro had fallen asleep with his hands behind his head as he lay on the soft grass, and Reiko was in her wolf form sprawled next to him, her back on his side. Brook smiled as the symphonies continued. _It's wonderful to have days as relaxed as these with the crew,_ he thought as he felt himself too drifting to sleep.

Reiko scrunched closer to Zoro and closed her eyes as she let herself relax. Maybe this could be her new family, maybe she could trust them and she didn't have to give it all up. Maybe she was better off staying with them. These pleasured thoughts ran in her mind just as the thick stench of hot metal appeared not to far from them. It could have easily come from the town and some construction going on but Reiko knew better. Chopper would probably brush it off as that, but she knew that their demise was coming.

She sat up quickly and morphed back to her human form. "Hey guys how about we head back to the ship and move on to the next island?" she offered up, hoping they would comply. She had spoken loud enough to get the attention of the crew mates that were awake and awaken the ones who weren't. Zoro opened an eye and seeing Reiko's slightly worried face, sat up confused.

"What do you mean?" asked Nami.

"Well um isn't the log pose already set?"

Nami looked down at her wrist. "Well yeah, but why in such a rush?"

"Um I uh, I'm just anxious to have a real adventure. This island is so boring. Can't we just move on?" she asked hoping to get the captains attention by this. The scent was getting closer and Reiko needed to get them to get up and leave if she wanted them to stay her comrades, or even to stay living. She stood up.

"Come on guys lets go have an adventure!"

"Aww, but it's such a nice day Reiko. And this picnic was your idea," said Chopper.

_Don't remind me, _thought Reiko.

"A little longer wont hurt," said Franky.

_Oh yes it will. Damn it why won't you guys listen? Because I'm not making any sense to them. They don't know how much danger they're' really in,_ she thought nervously looking around. The enemy scent was so close it could come down on them at any second.

"Reiko, what's wrong?" asked Zoro, visibly concerned.

She bit her lip, how was she supposed to tell them that if they stayed they were going to be in danger, hell they already were in danger.

"It's just…." Too Late. The enormous form of the bear-like Shichibukai came down on them. Everyone sprung to their feet and got ready for an attack. But they were all shocked to see who the enemy truly was.

Everyone except Luffy and Reiko screamed, "BARTHOLOMEW KUMA?"

x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x

**Well there you have it. The very long chapter 4! I said before that it was going to be like the actual manga and anime, well the next two chapters are the ones that are going to be like the manga and anime, the rest will be all original! YAY! I really hope you enjoyed this chapter and really got into it. :D Once again sorry for the excruciatingly long update time. Oh and for those of you who want to know what the actual song Brook and the crew were singing sounds like, it can be found in the anime episode 380. I only put the first two verses of the song in here, but it's a bit longer and it sounds really really awesome :D here is the link to watch the episode for those of you who want it **

**.com/watch/397-one-piece-episode-380-english-subbed/**

**Well I hope you liked it please review :D**


	5. The Beginning of the End

**Ok so here's the next chapter, like I said this is going to be a lot like the anime from episodes 401 to 404, though not everything will be the same. You'll just have to read and then compare for yourself. But there will be several similarities so if you've already seen them, then that's kool still read and review these chapters though, tell me what you think and if you think I did a good job at emulating it and putting Reiko in the mix. Also if you have seen it there will still be some important differences that will affect the rest of the fic (mainly in chapter 6 but some in chapter 5 too) so it's important for you to get those to understand the fic better. :D And if you haven't seen it, you don't necessarily have to unless you don't want spoilers. That's pretty much the big thing, it's a spoiler for these episodes so read at your own risk (though you should read anyways :D.) anyway I hope you enjoy this chapter and the next one just as much as I enjoyed writing them. Also I know I didn't do this before but I'm doing to start using Santoryu instead of three sword style (and the same for the others) the actual names of the attacks will still be in English but I just like Santoryu better than three sword style. **

Chapter 5: Beginning of the End

"Who're you?" asked Luffy as the enormous body of Bartholomew Kuma loomed over him.

"Luffy! Get away from him!" squealed Usopp.

"Huh? Why?" asked Luffy turning his back on the enemy.

"He's one of the seven warlords of the sea!" said Nami, hoping Kuma didn't attack Luffy while his back was turned.

"How do you know?" Luffy asked. But before he could get an answer, Kuma took off his gloves and a large beam came out from the hole in his palm.

"Don't let that shockwave hit you Luffy!" called Sanji as he and the others began to move out of the way. Luffy did the same, but the blast from the beam caught everyone off guard.

"Oy! That wasn't a shockwave!" called out Luffy after the attack was done.

"It's a…." began Chopper

"…BEAM!" called out Luffy with Chopper, stars in their eyes in amazement and awe.

"This is no time to admire him!" scolded Usopp.

"What is Bartholomew Kuma doing back here?" asked Robin, sincerely worried and terrified.

Zoro clenched his teeth in anger and glared at the Pacifista. "Bastard!" he growled out.

Luffy looked around majorly confused. Everyone, including Reiko, was looking at Bartholomew Kuma with eyes of hate and fear.

"Wait, is he the guy who showed up at Thriller Bark after we beat Moria?" asked Luffy.

"Yeah, that's him!" said Usopp, pointing at Kuma accusingly. "But he made shockwaves from his hands before. It really sucked for us."

Chopper morphed into his large humanoid form before saying, "He was going to eliminate all of there, but he didn't finish the job. He must have found out we survived and he's come back to finish it."

"You sure beat us good back then!" said Franky as he lifted his arms preparing for the attack. "Coup de Vent!" he yelled as his arms filled with air and then expelled it through the openings in his palms at Kuma, launching him to a nearby large tree.

"You did it Franky!" said Nami, lowering her guard slightly.

"No way. That troublesome idiot is still perfectly fine," answered Franky.

Suddenly Luffy's fist hit the ground. Everyone looked at him. His skin shined and steamed as he said, "Gear Second."

_Hm? What's that? It's how he beat Lucci isn't it?_ thought Reiko, though she didn't say anything about it. She just kept watching Luffy. _Sure it's got to be powerful, but is it enough to beat a Pacifista?_

"Luffy-san!" said Brook, a bit worried about his captain's condition.

"I know you're strong, so I'll just go all out right away," said Luffy.

"We've got no choice," said Sanji angrily as he and the rest of the crew prepared themselves.

Zoro growled deep in his throat._ Something's wrong. He feels way different from back then,_ he thought remembering the painful events of Thriller Bark. A chill ran down his spine. _Is it just my imagination?_

His thoughts were cut short as Luffy called out the command. "Let's Go!" he yelled!

"YEAH!" cried out the crew as they all went for Kuma. Quick and sharp beeping noises came into the cyborg's mind as it relayed the information. He jumped in the air as the pirates approached him and launched a huge attack towards the ground.

Luffy, Zoro, and Sanji were sent spiraling into different directions. Franky, Brook, and Usopp all went behind Luffy. Nami, Robin, Chopper, and Reiko were in the opposite direction, they had been sent behind a log, where Nami and Chopper where now hiding.

The Warlord sent out several light beams at Luffy, making him run around quickly trying to avoid them. But by missing Luffy the attacks hit the trees and the land surrounding them, making the ground shake and trees fall. One tree almost fell on Brook. He squealed in fear and jumped into Franky's arms so as to get out of the way.

"What the hell are you doing, baka!" Franky yelled as he watched Luffy pant and jump over a few more beams.

"Sorry Franky-san!" said Brook as he jumped off of Franky. They looked back to Luffy, who was now almost completely exhausted just from dodging the attacks.

"Unbelievable," muttered Franky in disbelief.

"He can shoot those things from his hands **and** his mouth!" said Usopp slightly terrified.

Brook's fear was not hidden though, as he said, "Scary!" out loud.

Suddenly the Cyborg Kuma shot another beam at Luffy. Unfortunately enough he was right in front of the three men and as he dodged it the bean flew right towards them.

Usopp's mouth dropped and his eyes widened. "Another one's coming! Another one's coming! ANOTHER ONE'S COMING!" he screamed as he Brook and Franky all turned to quickly run away from the terrifying light.

It engulfed them and seemed to have destroyed them. Nami, Chopper, and Robin watched in fear but soon let out a sigh of relief as the three men ran out of the cloud of smoke in a comedic fashion.

As they dodged falling debris they found a small destroyed tree to hide behind. They lay there panting for a few instants.

Soon after Franky gasped out, "What the hell was that?"

"I… *pant*…already told you. *Pant**Pant* It's a beam!" said Usopp.

"A BEAM is just a ray of light!" Franky countered. "Having something like that as a weapon is just a fantasy!" he explained.

Usopp pouted and looked away, accidentally looking at Brook, who was in a strange stiff position.

"Um… Brook? What are you doing?" he asked.

"Playing dead."

"HE ALREADY KNOWS YOUR NOT!" yelled Franky and Usopp together.

Another explosion in the background led them to be quiet so that Kuma would not hear them.

In the mean time Luffy, Zoro and Sanji were all preparing to attack him. They dodged attacks and ran at him all at the same time to prepare for their ultimate attack. Soon enough Kuma got into range.

"Santoryu," said Zoro, his three swords aligned perfectly.

"Gum, Gum," said Luffy, pulling his fists back for the attack.

"Diable," said Sanji, his leg now alight, like a cigarette.

"MUTTON," continued Sanji.

"JET," continued Luffy.

"600 POUND," continued Zoro.

"CANNON!" they all finished as their attacks collided with Bartholomew Kuma. Luffy punched, Sanji kicked, and Zoro held his "flying blades" firm as they pressed on against the monstrosity before them. After a quick struggle Bartholomew Kuma was sent back far into the distant woods. The Monster Trio dropped down to the ground panting heavily. They glared at where Kuma lay motionless. Their bodies seemed to have relaxed and Luffy had reverted back to his normal state.

Nami, who had been hiding behind a log with Chopper, jumped up happily. "Alright! Did they get him?' she asked.

"They're amazing," commented Chopper with strong admiration.

Robin and Reiko didn't seem as pleased.

"The enemy is a warlord, I don't think even they could beat him that quick," said Reiko very serious, and seemingly worried.

"They know it too. I can tell just from their expressions," added Robin, who was carefully watching the battle.

_And this guy isn't even the real Kuma. He doesn't have pads, or the rest of the devil fruit powers Kuma does. He's just another pacifista,_ thought Reiko concerned.

x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x

Luffy panted as he put on his straw hat. He couldn't believe the power this opponent had. And by the looks of it he wasn't even the real one. Luffy looked over to Zoro and Sanji and said, "Is he really that different? Does it mean he's like his twin or something?"

"Yeah, maybe," answered Sanji.

"If he was the real one he would have dodged all of our attacks," said Zoro, who seemed very exhausted, even more so than usual. "More importantly, he's not shooting shockwaves and he doesn't have pads."

"But if he is a fake then that's still a problem," said Sanji. "That means there's two people as strong as him."

Suddenly the mysterious Kuma imposter twitched and got up, prepared to face the deadly trio once more. They prepared themselves to move again and jumped back as the cyborg shot another blast.

"Let's move!" said Reiko as a blast headed their way. They ran away from the blast but Reiko kept her eyes on the fight. She knew she didn't stand a chance against the pacifista but she wanted to help. The only thing holding her back was the knowledge that she would get in the way more than help them.

Luffy was quick to draw the attention of the attacks, and as the Kuma impostor was busy chasing him around Zoro came from the side and attacked. Kuma saw him and quickly turned to shoot a beam from his hands at him, but he was too late. Zoro easily jumped and dodged the shot as he launched his attack.

"108 Pound Cannon!" he yelled as the attack was sent to the opponent.

Kuma fell backwards but just before he could completely collapse on the floor Sanji came up from behind him.

"Concasset!" he called as he kicked Kuma behind the knee and kept him upright.

Zoro came out of a nearby smoke cloud and began to attack with another 108 pound cannon. But before he could Kuma sent a blast from his hand at Zoro.

Zoro quickly spun to his left and landed on the ground panting. Kuma faced him and opened his mouth wide. A large beam attack began to form in his mouth. The action made Zoro gasp in surprise and his face take on that of fear and shock as the memories from Thriller Bark flooded his mind and body.

He remembered every bit of him facing up to Kuma. The blast that had protruded from his mouth, as it was doing now and the agony he had had to suffer to save his comrades, the torturous pain that came from Luffy's weakened body.

As Zoro came back to the present he clenched his teeth and his eyes in pain, pressing a hand against his stomach where the first bubble of agony had invaded him. The pain from that day came back full force, as if he had had no time to heal at all. He groaned as the pain grew exponentially and bit down hard on Wadō's hilt.

Sanji yelled, "Baka! What are you doing?" as Kuma's attack was about to shoot.

Reiko couldn't bear to watch.

"Luffy! Sanji! Move!" she yelled as she morphed into her werewolf from and ran to Zoro.

The beam was shot at the pained Zoro just as Reiko approached him. She focused as hard as she possibly could, grabbed her shadow from underneath her and lifted it, throwing it up like a giant sheet. It expanded enough to cover her and Zoro as she grabbed his collar. The shadow barrier did little to stop the attack but it did enough. It held the attack off for a crucial second so Reiko could grab hold of Zoro and jump away. Just as they were only feet away from their original location, the blast burst through the shadow and hit the ground. Reiko and Zoro were flung to where Sanji now stood. Reiko turned in mid air and made sure that she would be the one to take full grunt of the landing. She did. Her back hit the ground and she coughed up a bit of blood. She let Zoro lay on the ground, Wadō now scattered on the ground and his other two swords firmly in his grip. His eyes were shut and his hand was still pressing against his stomach.

Reiko had now reverted to her human form. Luffy ran at them.

"ZORO!" he yelled.

Reiko looked up with one eye shut in pain. Sanji was watching Kuma closely while Reiko was watching over Zoro. Luffy caught up to them and looked at Zoro shocked and scared. Zoro continued to gasp in pain.

"Oy Zoro! Where you really hurt so badly you can't even move?" he asked.

"Forget about him Luffy!" said Sanji, making Luffy turn his attention to him. "We have to deal with this thing first!"

Luffy nodded but looked back to Zoro still worried.

Zoro got up to his hands and knees and coughed dryly, trying to get the pain out of him. It seemed as though he would cough up blood at any moment but he didn't. His coughs and gasps where very dry.

Sanji look looked back very worried. _There's no way his wounds from back then could have healed so fast. By the looks of it, just standing up to face this guy has to be really painful for him,_ he thought. Then he looked back at the enemy. _If this bastard isn't Bartholomew Kuma then who the hell is he? He looks exactly like one of the seven warlords! What the hell is going on?_

Reiko noticed Luffy still watching Zoro, she knew he needed to be focused on the enemy or they were all screwed.

"Hey, Luffy, don't worry about it. I'll take care of Zoro. You just deal with that freak!" she said smiling up at him.

"Yeah," he said nodding and facing Kuma once more.

Kuma shot another attack and Luffy and Sanji jumped away. Reiko grabbed Zoro and his swords and did the same.

"We're going to need everyone's help on this one guys!" called out Luffy to the rest of the crew.

Reiko could hear the several responses coming from many different places on the land. The one she was most surprised to hear was Zoro's. He pushed her away from him and stood up wobbly.

"Zoro, please, just let me help you," said Reiko.

"Let me go. I'm fine," he muttered.

Reiko did so but kept a watchful eye on him. Kuma shot another enormous blast which made the ground quake. Reiko watched at Franky and Usopp attacked Kuma from a distance. Then she saw Brook come up behind them and do the same. Then Nami and Chopper attacked too. Luffy and Sanji were recuperating and Zoro needed to do the same but she was fine and she could help them.

Turning to face Zoro once again she said, "Just wait here and don't move, okay. I'll be right back."

Zoro grunted as if he weren't going to listen but did as she said anyway. His body was too sore and pained to do otherwise. Reiko morphed into her wolf form and ran up at Kuma. She leapt onto one of her shadow platforms and used it to jump onto the giant cyborg's back. He instantly noticed her presence and began trying to swat her away. He moved so violently that she couldn't stay on for long but she did turn into here werewolf form and dug her claws into the scruff of his neck. It didn't do much though, as she was sent tumbling down to the ground afterwards. Kuma turned and looked at her about to step on her motionless frame. Zoro Luffy and Sanji all began to run towards her in an attempt to get her out from under him.

Suddenly, for a reason unknown to the crew, Kuma stopped. He looked down and observed for a brief instant. His quick hesitation was enough for Zoro to catch up to her and scoop her up and get away. He ended up near Luffy and Sanji.

"Oy! Is she alright?" asked Sanji nervously.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Reiko muttered. "I just fell on my head, though if it weren't for Zoro, I'd have been squished."

Zoro put her down, seeing that she was fine and looked back to Kuma. He watched as the cyborg shot a massive blast at Usopp and Chopper. They quickly got out of the way.

"If we surround him we might have a better shot," commented Sanji.

"Yeah. Let's do it," said Luffy. Then he and Sanji leapt and landed near Kuma.

Then Franky, Robin and Chopper did too; Followed by Nami, Usopp, and Brook. Reiko was about do the same with Zoro when all of a sudden he pressed his hand to his stomach again, groaning and dropping to his knees. She ran over to him quickly.

"Zoro! Are you okay?"

"Yeah," he said though clenched teeth. He stood up wobbly and then followed his comrades. Reiko followed.

When they landed, panting from exhaustion, Zoro once again dropped to his knees in pain. He clenched his teeth on Wadō to try to subside the pain. His mind was in a haze and as he stood up, pain once more shooting through his body, he could barely focus. His only goal was to be rid of the thing causing him pain, Kuma. He stood up and flinched once more in pain.

Reiko only observed until she saw that he was walking towards Kuma.

"S-santoryu," he began as he was about to attempt another attack.

Kuma also prepared an attack and was about to shoot a beam at Zoro. Before he could Chopper came galloping and Reiko running, both in their four legged form. Chopper jumped up at Kuma while Reiko shouldered Zoro out of the way.

"Kokutei! Roseo Michelli!" cried Chopper as he hit Kuma with several hoof attacks, now in arm point.

The attack brought Kuma back a bit but he quickly grabbed Chopper with his left hand and with his right he began to charge a blast. That's when Franky came running to defend him. He slipped off the skin colored sleeve on his right hand and jumped up to Kuma.

"Strong Hammer!" he said as he punched Chopper out of Kuma's grasp. Then he continued his assault with, "Franky Boxing!" He sent a barrage of punches into Kuma's face, but they did little to stop him, and he punched down Franky.

It was Robin who saved him from smashing into a tree.

"Spider net!" she said, crossing her arms over her chest. Then several of Robin's arms sprouted from the ground and grabbed each other to create a makeshift net, which caught Franky before he crashed.

"Don't forget we can't take his physical strength lightly either," warned Usopp.

Suddenly Brook ran up one tree to get leverage over Kuma.

"Do not worry!" he said as he did a flip and was headed, head first, into Kuma. "Here I go! Swallow, Bon en Avant!" he said and his sword pierced through Kuma's outer layer of armor. Though it didn't pierce the rest of him, so he did indeed get stuck. It took Brook a second to recognize this as he was still laughing from the thought of his marvelous attack. When he did realize it, his blood ran cold. (Though he doesn't have any blood to begin with).

"AAAHHH! I'm stuck!" he yelled in fear.

Kuma looked up and began to charge a deadly attack beam from his mouth.

Brook saw this. "W-wait! That's dangerous! Are you planning on killing me? ….. Although I'm already dead….. WAIT THIS IS NO TIME TO BE SAYING THAT!" he yelled. He tried to pull away but couldn't.

"Atlas Star!" said Usopp as he shot four little pellets that then exploded on Kuma. This enabled Brook to escape.

Then both of them began to run away as Usopp said, "Now's our chance! Let's run!"

"That was scary! Thank you very much!" said Brook as he ran along side Usopp.

Kuma suddenly dropped to his knees, seeming to be in pain of some sort. Then he completely collapsed on the ground.

"Hey, he's acting weird guys," commented Chopper, who happened to see the act.

They all looked and were surprised to see Kuma on the ground.

"So wait, bombs work on him NOW?" asked Usopp disbelieving.

"One went into his mouth and exploded. It must have short wired something inside him," explained Franky. "He might be all tough on the outside, but on the inside he's still got blood. He modified his body to become a weapon like me. But really he's just a normal human."

Nami ran toward them to make sure they were all alright. But she did so just as Kuma was standing up.

"Nami-san! Watch out! He's found you!" cried Sanji as he watched Kuma aim right at her with another mouth blast.

"Ochenta flor, Cuatro manos, SHOCK!" said Robin. Eighty arms came out on Kuma's shoulders, forming into four much larger arms. They turned into fists and then came down on Kuma's head just as he was about to fire his blast, making it go off in his own mouth.

"YES! You did it, the blast blew up in his own mouth!" said Usopp joyfully.

"Sorry to interrupt your break, pal, but you should really watch for lightning," said Nami, preparing her Clima Tact. A small thunder cloud appeared behind Kuma.

"From the dark clouds to the Clima Tact," she continued. "Thunder Lance Tempo!" Then a lighting bolt went directly from the little thunder cloud behind Kuma, to Nami's Clima Tact and pierced Kuma.

Kuma seemed to be completely short wired with that final attack.

"That one worked definitely. Amazing," said Brook in awe.

But then unexpectedly, Kuma began to fire shots at random, desperately out of control. The entire crew ran to cover. Reiko hid with Zoro behind a large trunk that had fallen down.

"Hey how are you holding up?" she asked him.

"Fine. I can take care of my self. Are you okay?" he asked noticing her now bruising shoulder, from when she had fallen before and when he pushed him out of the way.

"Yeah don't worry about it," she answered and looked back to the insane cyborg. She could hear Usopp screaming angrily and in fear.

"It didn't work, did it! He's still fine, isn't he?" he complained.

"But where is he aiming anyway?" asked Chopper.

"Has he really become that desperate?" asked Franky.

"He's completely lost his mind," said Usopp, about to cry.

Sanji got prepared to attack once more, seeing this as the perfect opportunity. His right leg was now lit up like a cigarette. "Once you get desperate the fight is over," he said, about to run at Kuma.

Reiko smiled seeing his newfound confidence. She looked over and saw that Zoro was gone. _Where the hell did he go?_ she thought.

"Oy, blast him over here!"

Reiko looked over and saw that Zoro had said that, he was now wearing his trademark bandana and holding all three swords perfectly. Kuma stood between Sanji and Zoro. _I sure hope he knows what he's doing,_ she thought again.

Sanji nodded. "You're too damn stubborn," he said referring to Kuma as he ran up to him. Kuma prepared a hand attack, but he never got to complete it as Sanji made it to him to fast. "Diable Jamble, Flambage Shot!" Sanji said as he jumped up and kicked Kuma hard with his lit up leg. Flames came about and Kuma was thrown directly at Zoro.

"Alright! He's finally starting to fall apart!" noticed Franky.

"Kiki, Kyutoryu, Ashura," said Zoro as he suddenly grew two more heads and four more arms.

Reiko looked amazed at the new form Zoro had taken on. _Amazing, this is probably what he used against Kaku. I heard the attack was an amazing sight but I never expected this,_ she thought very impressed. Chopper and Brook's jaws dropped in shock as they too were surprised by the form.

"Ww… What is that?" asked Brook fearfully.

"Zoro multiplied," said Chopper.

"Makyusen!" said Zoro as he spun around with all nine swords, cutting up Kuma. When he finished the attack the extra limbs vanished and he went back to normal.

That's when Luffy came down from above. He put this right thumb in his mouth and said, "Gear third." Then he blew into his thumb and his entire right arm became enormous.

"Go Luffy!" called out Nami.

"We just need one more hit!" said Franky.

"DO IT LUFFY!" said Chopper and Usopp in unison.

"Gomu Gomu no, Giant Rifle!" he yelled as this giant fist came rapidly down on Kuma's face. It completely smothered him. That was the end of that Kuma imposter.

Suddenly Luffy began to let a whole lot of air out through his mouth and he began to shrink and fly around. "AHH! I'm shrinking!" said Luffy as he did so. He looked like a disinflating balloon and he soon crashed into the ground.

As the smoke cleared Luffy laid on the ground panting hard. In fact all of the crew was exhausted and they all panted hard as they sat around the corps of the imposter. They could all now see the PX-4 tattoo on his neck. Reiko managed to walk up to Zoro and sit next to him, as he seemed to be in a lot of pain while breathing. She closed her eyes and looked back very exhausted and tired.

"We stopped that bastard right?" asked Franky, a little afraid of the answer.

"We must have," said Usopp.

"It almost seems like he's going to start moving again," noted Nami, very chilled.

"If he does, we're doomed. I'm totally beat, I can't even move anymore," complained Usopp.

"Maybe we should have escaped instead of fighting him?" said Chopper.

"No, we should beat them if we can," said Robin.

"But what was with that guy, anyway?" Zoro was able to mutter out.

"He's definitely a modified human," said Franky. "He must have looked a lot like Kuma when he was just human, because there's no way they could actually create a human from scratch."

Luffy who was now back to full size, decided that it would be best if they rested for a little bit. He said so. "Hey let's rest for a bit. I never thought we would be forced to do an all out battle so soon."

"I want to rest too, but we should find a hiding place first. If we're attacked again we're in big trouble you know," said Sanji.

"Yeah I agree," said Reiko who really just wanted them all to get out of there before the cavalry arrived.

"I guess that's true," said Luffy. "But, just wait a second, okay?"

"Man, you've really done it now!" said a deep strong voice from above. It shocked the crew and they all stood up to look around for the location of the voice. Reiko just stood paralyzed as she knew this was the end for them. She couldn't make herself move though she really wanted to run far from this place.

Suddenly the Captain of the Marine Science patrol Sentoumaru jumped down with another pacifista. "You didn't really need to destroy PX-4 like that Reiko," he said.

The crew gasped and turned to stare at their ashamed crewmate. Reiko just looked at the ground, unable to move or speak.

x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x

**Ok so there's chapter 5. It definitely took me a lot longer than I thought it would to write. Chapter six should be up next weekend but I can't guarantee it. oh and if you haven't noticed I've completely got to writing all the attack names in the original way it's done in the anime. So yeah. I just really like the way it sounds originally and in English it just sounds stupid. So I'm not going to change it any more I'll just use the Jap names from now on! :D hurray. I hope you guys enjoy it and I will try to get chpt 6 us ASAP! Cuz it's important. Once that chapter is up there's gonna be no more copying from anime stuff (besides what's already been copied being referenced to) everything else will be totally mine and it will be totally awesome! So just read and review and tell me what you think so far. If you think my copying/adaptation of the anime totally sucked or if you think it was super awesome or if it was just okay and good. Anything is fine! I just love reviews! Cuz they totally help me write wayyyy better! So tell me what you think of this chapter and where you think the fic is headed! Hope you all enjoy! R&R (still not 5.000 words! Ugh…) **


	6. Traitor

**So apparently only one person liked chapter five. **** (Sooo much thanks to Shadow.!) I only got one review…. But like 300 ppl at least clicked on it so I guess that's good. I'm hoping more people will review chapter 6. This one is also going to be similar to the episode but, unlike chapter five it will have a lot of its own stuff, and mainly only the idea of escaping and the bad guys will be the same. **** So yeah, please review cuz I love reviews, good and bad, hateful and loving I take 'em all. So please review and I will love you forever! Chapter 7 might still take a while cuz I have writers block on this one part but other than that it's practically all done too. See these chapters are starting to come out faster and faster! Hope you enjoy and REVIEW! :D**

Chapter 6: Traitor 

_Suddenly the Captain of the Marine Science patrol Sentoumaru jumped down with another pacifista. "You didn't really need to destroy PX-4 like that Reiko," he said. _

_The crew gasped and turned to stare at their ashamed crewmate. Reiko just looked at the ground, unable to move or speak. _

"What the hell is he talking about Reiko?" asked Zoro frustrated. "How does he know you?"

Reiko bit her lip and shut her eyes before taking a deep breath and began to answer, "I didn't really have a choice now did I?" she directed at Sentoumaru.

"Huh?" said Luffy as he noticed she was actually talking to the strange man.

"You could have helped him. You know building one of these is guys is as much as an entire warship!" answered Sentoumaru

Reiko snorted and looked away. The crew watched in shock as they saw her interacting with this marine as if he were her acquaintance.

"Why are you even here Sentoumaru? I thought Yamashi was supposed to come," she said very irritated and trying to hide her slight nervousness.

"He couldn't make it. Sengoku sent me and the old man instead," he answered nonchalantly.

Reiko bit her lip, she knew exactly who he meant and if he showed up then there was no possible way for the crew to escape, not that they had much hope as it was. _No! Forget about them, your mission is to capture them. They are the enemy!_ She thought trying to convince herself.

Zoro scowled at her, he couldn't believe this was happening. He looked around to the rest of the crew, but none of them seemed as concerned about her as he did, more so they seemed to all be worried about the new Pacifista. All of them except Luffy, that is. He was also watching Reiko, but not with an angry glare like Zoro, just a neutral watch. Then Franky spoke up.

"Who are you broadaxe?" he called.

"Don't call a man by his weapon," said Sentoumaru. "And there's no point in asking me questions. I am the man with the toughest guard in the whole world; it only makes sense that my mouth is well guarded too!"

"Can't you at least tell us your name?" said Usopp.

"I have no reason to tell you that. Didn't I just tell you? I'm world's most tight-lipped man, Sentoumaru."

"Oh, so it's Sentoumaru, then," said Usopp.

"Huh? … I just felt like telling you that!"

Reiko couldn't help but chuckle as they had managed to get Sentoumaru to even state his name.

Sentoumaru glared at her and then said, "Let's just get this over with. Ready?"

"Yeah, yeah I got it," said Reiko rolling her eyes and crossing her arms over her chest.

"Let's go PX-1!" Sentoumaru said before PX-1 launched a huge blast from his mouth and his two palms. Reiko put up a strong shadow shield to keep the blast from killing her but it still singed her hair a bit. Everyone else, not including Sentoumaru, was launched back and away from the center area where their enemies stood.

H Sanji quickly skidded to a halt. He looked up into the massive cloud of smoke before saying, "He's shooting beams too, and he doesn't have pads. As much as I hate to think about this, this means there are two guys as strong as Kuma. What's going on?"

Zoro appeared behind him, clutching his swords, prepared to unsheathe them. He looked into the cloud of smoke and could see Reiko straightening up and glaring at them.

"Rather than thinking about that, we should try to get away now. It'll be safer if we just run," he said. Then he grunted as a sharp pain quickly ran through him. "If we fight now, someone will definitely die," he finished.

Then suddenly they heard the most unexpected thing ever. It was Luffy. "Yeah," he said. "Let's run."

Everyone, including Reiko, looked at him in shock. They never expected their captain to run from any fight, or any enemy. Usopp and Chopper 'gulped' in unison before screaming, "WE THINK RUNNING IS A GOOD IDEA TOOOOO!" and they ran even farther from the Pacifista.

"We can't stay together, let's split up and escape. The three of us should split up," he said referring to himself, Zoro, and Sanji.

"Sure…" said Sanji. "Are you going to be alright?" he asked Zoro.

"Shut-up! I'll be fine."

"What about Reiko, guys?" asked Usopp. Zoro, Sanji, and Luffy looked at him but didn't say anything. What could they say? Reiko did it for them.

"Don't you get it Usopp? I'm a marine. Always have been. It was my mission to bring you guys in and that's exactly what I did. I can't believe you guys were stupid enough to trust a stranger."

"Forget about her! Let's go!" said Zoro knocking Usopp out of his unbelieving trance. He nodded and then ran off.

Sanji ran up behind Nami. "I'll protect Nami-swan with my life!" he said, very love-struck with loving hearts radiating off of him.

"Thanks. Now let's get going," Nami replied.

Franky came up beside them. "Hey! If you're so ready to risk your life then you should be the decoy for all of us!"

"Ladies only! You can protect yourself panty man!"

Kuma shot a blast at Usopp and he quickly jumped onto Zoro's back.

"Don't worry! Zoro-kun will protect me with his life!" said Usopp with tears practically coming from his eyes. Zoro groaned a bit in pain.

"Wait a minute. Usopp! I'm hurt…"

"Do not worry. I shall cover for you. Your injuries haven't healed yet, right?" said Brook as he ran up beside them. "To tell you the truth, I saw your act of self-sacrifice back on Thriller Bark.

"I see… Thanks."

Chopper and Robin ran up with Luffy.

Sentoumaru scowled. "We can't let them get away."

"I've got Zoro. You can deal with the rest of them," said Reiko as she transformed into a wolf and began her run towards Zoro. Sentoumaru grunted and then ran at Luffy's group as PX-1 directed himself to Sanji, Nami, and Franky. He got in front of them and the three of them stopped in their tracks. He began to create a beam in his mouth and Nami quickly hit behind Franky trying to use him as a shield.

"Hey! Don't push me!" he yelled, but a little too late as PX-1 sent off the blast.

Luffy, Robin, and Chopper all stopped as they saw the oncoming blast. Luffy turned back to look, very concerned.

"He went that way! Are they alright?"

But that's when Sentoumaru appeared before them, his axe landing directly in front of Luffy, digging a deep hole into the ground.

"You don't have time to worry about them,' said Sentoumaru.

"GOMU GOMU NO GATTLING!" yelled Luffy as he launched his multiple attacks at Sentoumaru.

But without breaking a sweat, Sentoumaru was able to launch Luffy away.

"What?" cried Luffy as he was flung through the air.

"What did he just do?" asked Chopper, beginning to get scared.

"You've got some pretty good offensive power. But my guard is the best in the world," said Sentoumaru quickly and almost instantly moving to the end of Luffy's trajectory. "ASHIGARA DOKKOI!" he said as he hit Luffy with his palm and sent him flying in another direction and into a giant boulder.

"What he's that strong too?" said Chopper amazed.

x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x

Reiko ran as fast and as swiftly as she could at Zoro's group. She couldn't help but snarl as she let her killer instincts begin to take over. Usopp looked over his shoulder and squealed when he saw that she was actually getting really close to them.

"What the hell Usopp!"

"SHE'S GETTING CLOSER! LOOK!" he yelled pointing over at Reiko.

Zoro glanced back and frowned. _Damn it. She's really starting to piss me off!_ He thought. His eyes widened as she leaped up and began to morph into her werewolf form to land on them, claws forward. Zoro quickly pulled out Sandai Kitetsu and spun around to slice Reiko in half. But he didn't. In fact he turned Sandai Kitetsu in his had just before hitting her so he would hit her with the dull side of the blade. His swing was strong enough to throw her away from them, and bruise her stomach, but it wasn't what he'd been aiming for. Or had it? He silently cursed himself for being unable to bring himself to hurt her. Whether he liked it or not she was still thought of as part of the crew in all their eyes. Until Luffy said it was official that she was off the crew, she would remain that way. He had brought her in and he was the only one allowed to take her out. They all knew that from past experiences. But Zoro tried to keep those thoughts out of his mind. He shook his head and kept running.

Reiko stood up a bit shaken. She had hit the ground with enough force that she had gone back to her human form. He stomach slightly throbbed and she growled at Zoro. _Jerk!_ She thought. _But I guess you could say I'm lucky. He could have easily cut me in half. Why didn't he though? Why isn't he fighting me? Sure Sentoumaru and PX-1 are tough but he could easily beat me. Whatever, their funeral._ She was going to run again, but she really couldn't make herself. They still thought good of her and she knew it. She could make herself fight them after this. After they still had hope in her, ignoring what she had just done to all of them. She bit her lip at the conflict in her head.

She didn't have much time to resolve it as a beam of light passed by Zoro and Usopp and then landed just in front of them. The scent hit Reiko like a brick wall. _Oh no... This isn't good. _ Zoro abruptly stopped when he saw the mini explosion. Usopp fell off of him.

"What the heck Zoro! And you call yourself my friend! You're not human!" Usopp complained quickly standing.

"Stand back!" said Zoro, putting a hand on his swords.

Suddenly out of the smoke another beam of light was shot, this one much smaller than the one before. It hit Zoro directly through the chest. It went right through him, causing another explosion. Luffy looked up from the rubble and saw it. He could hear his comrades screaming.

"ZORO!" cried Usopp, Brook, and Reiko all in unison as they saw Zoro collapse. Wadō fell out of his mouth, and blood poured out of his back and chest while he dropped to the ground.

x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x

There was an intense moment of unbearable pain as the light went through his unhealed wound. Then there was nothing. He couldn't feel any part of his body. He couldn't even tell if he still had a body. Everything was numb, and he couldn't make himself move at all. He could hear voices. It was Usopp.

"W-what? Who are you?" asked Usopp, Kabuto already pulled out and aimed at the cloud of smoke. "You... Get away! Get away from Zoro, you freak!"

The smoke began to clear and a figure stood in its wake.

"Z-Zoro-san... Zoro-san was hit by a beam!" stuttered out Brook.

Zoro tried to breath but he could barely get the air into his lungs. He gagged and chocked on blood, as he tried to stay conscious.

Sentoumaru sighed at the fact that it took his partner so long to arrive. "Bah, he's late," he said a bit frustrated but keeping an eye on Luffy. "So you've finally arrived old man, Kizaru."

Robin seemed to be the only one who seemed to understand the gravidity of the situation. She knew exactly who Kizaru was. Or should she say Admiral Kizaru.

"Be careful! That man is a Navy Admiral!" she warned.

"Admiral!" screamed Brook in shock.

"Oh you're a little bit too late..." said Kizaru. He looked down at the fallen pirate before him and sighed in disappointment. "120 million bounty-head, 'Pirate Hunter Roronoa Zoro. I heard that you were a reasonably accomplished swordsman, but by the looks of it you must be pretty exhausted to have been taken down by only one hit.

The calmed voice of the admiral sent chills down Zoro's spine. _Damn..._ he thought before coughing up a mouthful of blood and staining the grass underneath him. _He's the admiral?_ He thought unbelieving. He knew he had no chance if this was his opponent. Especially in his current state.

Kizaru lifted his left leg high and it began to glow with the intensity of the sun. It dangled above Zoro dangerously as he said, "Take yourself a long rest."

"Zoro!" Cried Luffy as he felt helpless to save his nakama.

The light leg took the shape of an arrow and the glowing intensified until you couldn't see anything but bright white.

The crew and Reiko covered their eyes, though they desperately wanted to see what was happening. Franky pulled down his sunglasses and tried to look. That's when he noticed that the light was from Kizaru's leg.

"Hey! He can fire beams too!" he called out surprised. "This is really bad. We've got to do something now! If Zoro gets hit from that distance he'll die!"

"OH NO! Zoro's in trouble!" cried Luffy as he tried to get up but Sentoumaru got in front of him as he wasn't about to let Luffy go protect his nakama. Luffy did the only thing he could. He begged his crew to help.

"USOPP!" he called, knocking the sharpshooter out of his stupor.

Usopp gulped and took a firm grip on Kabuto. He aimed it at Kizaru and began shooting many of his strong pellets. But they did no effect as the small ammo just went right through Kizaru.

"What? I can't hit him!" he said as he began to shoot faster in hopes of hitting the enemy.

Brook also jumped in with his sword and began jabbing at the admiral, but he had the same results. "Ah! I can't stab him either! What do we do?"

Usopp fired more shots and said, "Stop right there! Damn you! Move your leg!"

"Please move!" begged Brook.

Kizaru chuckled. "Heh, that won't work. I am a logia. I ate the Pika-Pika fruit. _**[Aka guys the shine shine fruit.].**_ I'm a light man," he said nonchalantly, but icy coldness dripping on every word.

"Light man?" Franky questioned.

Nami started to shake in fear and her eyes widened. She covered her mouth to keep herself from screaming in fear. "You're kidding right? He's going to die!" she muttered out.

"ZORO RUN!" Chopper wailed as tears streamed down his furry face.

Robin stared shocked. She couldn't believe that Zoro was just going to die like that.

Zoro shifted in the grass and tried to move. But the slight movement sent waves of mind numbing agony through his body, yet he continued to try to get his body to move. He couldn't all the functions were shutting down. Whatever Kizaru had done, his shot had severely paralyzed him. _It's no use... _he thought drearily. _My body... won't..._

Sanji noticed it too. "It's no use. The guy's at his limit already!"

Robin couldn't watch anymore. She crossed her arms over her chest and said, "VEINTE FLOR!"

At her command twenty arms sprouted from the ground and began to roll Zoro away from Kizaru.

Usopp almost cried in joy as Zoro was rolled to safety. "YES! You did it Robin! Great job!"

But Kizaru wasn't going to let it be that easy. He turned into complete light in front of Brook's eyes and vanished. Well more like flashed and then when he became a visible person he was atop of Zoro's weak form. His foot came down on Zoro's back and pinned him to the ground. Zoro groaned but couldn't do anything else. Usopp, who had been looking at Zoro, was shocked.

"H-he just got over there in a second!"

"How?" cried Brook.

Robin frantically tried to pull on Zoro to get him away but Kizaru held Zoro firmly to the ground. She couldn't even budge him.

"I won't let you get away," said Kizaru heartlessly. His foot once again lit up.

The fear of losing Zoro got everyone in motion. Brook tried to get to Zoro, even though he knew he could not stop Kizaru even if he did make it in time. Franky tried to aim a blast at Kizaru hoping it would hit and get him off of Zoro. Robin stood almost paralyzed still trying to pull Zoro away. Chopper ran, tears drowning his fuzzy face. Sanji yelled while lunging himself at Zoro. Usopp aimed Kabuto again in hopes of it taking effect this time. Nami just shook with sobs and tried to keep herself from looking away. And Luffy yelled out Zoro's name, and tried to make himself move past the sorrow building up inside of him. Reiko's mind blanked and then swarmed with fearful thoughts. Then Kizaru said three terrifying words.

"You'll die now." And then the world went white.

x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x

The events had gone so fast. In an instant everything had changed. One moment they had been enjoying a peaceful pick-nick and the next they were being attacked by a Bartholomew Kuma imposter. Not a moment after they had defeated him one of their own betrayed them and another powerful enemy with a Pacifista appeared, forcing them to run. But one more enemy showed up and now the life of one of their own hung in the balance. All hope seemed lost. Until something else happened in a split second.

_It was my job to bring them in. Kill __them; I was just obeying orders... So why did I interfere? Why do I feel the need to step in? To save them?_ Reiko retraced the previous second in her head to try to make sense of it all. When she saw Zoro's oncoming moment of death something had snapped in her. It was no longer about her and her needs, but about those of the people whom she cared for. Her body had moved faster than she could have imagined; morphing into a werewolf, running to Zoro, skidding to stop right on top of him, her strongest shadow coming up like a shield around them. And then the attack hit. And her mind slipped into the oblivion.

The force of the attack had been so potent that when it impacted into her shadow her mind went into overdrive trying to fend off the pure light. It only held it off for a second before it easily broke the shadow and crashed into Reiko's thick hide. Fortunately, the shadow had taken most of the grunt of the attack and it wasn't fatal when it hit Reiko, but it was enough to do severe damage. She passed out for only a few seconds before her mind could cope from the destruction of her shield. When she woke up she saw Zoro under her and memories followed. She looked up and saw Usopp and Brook looking at her shocked. _What's up with them? ...Oh yeah... I'm supposed to be the bad guy..._ she thought. She pushed herself off of Zoro and groaned when her back burned. _That's definitely not good. The only thing keeping me alive now is my healing powers. I guess I shouldn't turn back into my human form for a bit or this thing could kill me._ She flicked her yellow eyes at Usopp and muttered out some words that sounded almost like growls.

"W-what? I think she's trying to say something," whispered Usopp, who was looking at her amongst the smoke from the blast.

Reiko clenched her teeth and forced words out of her sore throat once more.

"Grab him," she whispered. "Grab him and run..."

Usopp was shocked at her words but didn't dare to move. He still wasn't sure he could trust her.

The smoke cleared and now everyone could see Reiko had saved Zoro's life.

"Hmm? Reiko-chan? What are you doing?" asked Kizaru, very much confused.

She chuckled/coughed and smirked, which looked insane and wild with her yellow eyes and pearly white fangs. "Being stupid," she muttered.

"USOPP! Grab Zoro and run!" Luffy yelled trying to get all of his crew safe.

_At least he gets it..._ Reiko thought. Usopp nodded and ran up to Zoro. Reiko pushed herself completely off to let Usopp grab him easily. As Usopp pulled Zoro from under her and began to carry him away Luffy began to give orders.

"EVERYONE THINK ONLY OF ESCAPING! DON'T WORRY ABOUT FIGHTING! RIGHT NOW WE **CAN'T** BEAT THESE GUYS!" he yelled. Everyone looked shocked for a moment and then began to run. Except Luffy who looked back at Reiko, his look almost saying _that includes you._ She grinned at him but shook her head sadly.

"You guys get away. I'll hold them off for you," she said just so he could hear it.

He didn't seem too pleased but joined up with Robin and Chopper in the run. Franky stopped and turned back.

"Franky, what are you doing?" Nami asked wanting to get out of there as fast as possible.

"I'm going to use the last of my cola and give us a chance to escape," he said as he put his two arms together and aimed at PX-1. "Coup de Grace!" he yelled and blasted PX-1 into one of the far trees. Then he began to run with Nami and Sanji following.

Usopp was already a good distance away with Zoro and Brook. Reiko stood up slowly, trying not to move too much because of the injury on her back. Kizaru was looking at her frustrated. She gave him an apologetic smile and said, "Sorry, I tripped while heading over here and the blast kinda-sorta just hit me."

Kizaru said nothing but looked over to Usopp, Zoro and Brook. He couldn't believe they were getting away. He wasn't about to let them ruin his reputation.

Usopp ran as fast as his legs could carry him. Zoro was already heavy enough but carrying his dead weight was just unbearable in his weakened and exhausted state. Also the blood pouring down his back made it very slippery. Suddenly Zoro began to shuffle and slightly move, making Usopp almost drop him and sigh in frustration.

"Let... let me go. I'll hold them off...*cough*...so you can get away...," Zoro muttered.

"Are you crazy? You're even more useless than me like this. You're staying with us and that's final. It was Luffy would want anyway," commanded Usopp.

Zoro didn't say anything. He couldn't do anything else. His world was fading. He wasn't even sure how he was still alive, even if Kizaru's second blast hadn't of hit him.

Suddenly Kizaru turned into light again and instantly began to move to Zoro to finish the job. Reiko instantly followed him to try and stop him though in no way could she match his speed. When Kizaru solidified beside Usopp and Zoro he kicked Zoro off of Usopp without a moment to spare. Zoro was launched off of Usopp and at a huge boulder. _This is my chance,_ thought Reiko as she put all of her strength in her legs and propelled herself forward. She managed to get right behind Zoro's path of trajectory before he collided with the boulder, he slammed into her and she was thrust into the enormous rock, colliding with her back first. She howled in pain and then dropped down to the ground, almost unconscious atop a blacked out Zoro.

Kizaru frowned once more to see that Reiko had saved the pirate yet again. He slowly strutted towards her and when he reached her location he angrily asked, "What do you think you're doing?"

She looked up and coughed up blood, which stained her sharp teeth and answered.

"I was going to help you when you kicked the idiot right into me!" she lied, hoping he would buy it. She sounded as frustrated and irritated as she possibly could.

"Really? I'm sorry Reiko-chan," he said, slightly laughing at his supposed stupidity. "Well you hold onto Roronoa I'm going to finish off the rest of them."

"No," she said stopping him.

"What?"

"I have a better idea. Let the rest of the pirates go and we'll take Zoro with us."

"What are you talking about?"

"Please just humor me for a bit," she muttered. "Wait a sec," she said paying attention to Sentoumaru trying to kill Luffy. She used all the last bit of her control and willpower to stretch her shadow over to Sentoumaru and wrap it around his legs so he could no longer move.

"Huh? What is this? Reiko!" he yelled at her to let go.

"I'm sorry," she said. Then she took a deep breath and directed her attention to the Strawhat Captain. "LUFFY! GO AND TAKE EVERYONE TO THE THOUSAND SUNNY! Get off of this island and I'll take care of Zoro. I'll make sure you get your first mate back safe and sound!"

"Reiko...," he said astonished in her statement.

"Please trust me Luffy! I swore I would protect him with my life and I will! Just go! If we're not back by tomorrow night go to the marine base at Sonic Island! You'll find us there!" she yelled hoping he would listen to her.

He paused for a moment. Looked at Zoro, then at her, at her pleading yellow eyes and nodded. "Right! Everyone let's go!" he yelled running off. The crew followed.

"There's no way you're getting away! PX-1, stop them!" Sentoumaru commanded.

"No!" muttered Reiko. She focused harder until her head ached and pounded, and made her shadow turn solid and lift to trip the Pacifista. It worked. Once he was on the ground she made it go around his legs and pinned him to the ground as well. Now Sentoumaru and PX-1 were both stuck, though it wouldn't last as long.

_I need to keep focus. I need to make sure Luffy and the others get away. But my shadow can't hold Kizaru. And Sentoumaru and PX-1 are not going to stay stuck for long. I have to focus __I have to put all of my energy into my shadow. Forget everything else,_ she dangerously thought.

"Are you going to try that little trick on me?" asked Kizaru.

Reiko smirked painfully. "Heh, we both know that wouldn't work now would it. No... There's no way I could stop you. But I ask you to listen to me. Please let the Strawhat's go. They're going to head to Yamashi's marine base anyway, and it should have been him to arrive here and help me. Not you. Please all I ask is that you let me take care of this on my own turf by my own rules. I swear when they get to the base I'll bring them all in. Just not here, not like this."

Kizaru raised a questioning eyebrow. "Why not?"

"You know how I am. I'm not about to swallow my pride and let you guys upstage me when this has been my mission for so long. Let me be the one to finish it. Let me prove myself. If I fail you can still finish them off at the base, and do whatever you want with me."

"Hmm," was all Kizaru would say. When he looked up the Strawhats where reaching the horizon. He could see Sentoumaru struggling and trying to break free of Reiko's shadow. He looked back at her and saw she too was struggling but to keep a hold on him and PX-1.

_Come on, come on! Stop holding back Reiko you need all you've got to hold these guys back and if Kizaru disagrees the only way you'll have even a chance to stall him is by letting loose so just do it!_ She thought trying to force herself to let her bestial nature completely run free. She started to snarl and her vision started turning red as her control slipped. But all the while the strength of her shadow grew.

Kizaru watched the crew disappear into the horizon and sighed. "Let's go. I'm getting hungry," he said turning away.

"What?" yelled Sentoumaru.

"This isn't our business anyway. Let's just go and let Yamashi deal with it when we get back."

"Fine," said Sentoumaru giving in.

Reiko seemed to smile and mutter a "Thank you." Before passing out and dropping on the ground unconscious. She shifted into her bestial human form that was usually her appearance at night. It was her actual healing body. When she passed out the shadows went back to normal. Sentoumaru scowled and walked up to her and Zoro and picked up the both of them.

"Let's go PX-1," he said. And they left the island.

x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x

Yamashi waited patiently in his office for Reiko to return. He wondered how she had adapted to the fact of Sentoumaru and Kizaru being there instead of himself and his crew. Suddenly he heard knocking at his door.

"Come in," he said. He had expected Reiko to walk into the room, not to see her unconscious form in the brawny arms of Sentoumaru. "What happened?" he questioned.

"She did. Reiko decided to help the Strawhats," said Sentoumaru a little frustrated.

"Hmm. Strange."

"She let the crew get away, and defended Roronoa Zoro with her life."

That's when Yamashi noticed Zoro's still, bloody, and beaten body lying behind Sentoumaru.

"She said it was better to let the crew go and just bring this one back with us. She said that the Strawhats would follow her here. But I'm pretty sure they still think she's one of them. She told them she was going to protect Roronoa. I'm assuming they'll be headed here for her and for him."

"Yes indeed. She's quite a trickster that Reiko."

"Yeah. Maybe it would be in our best interest to lock her up as well. I'm not sure we can trust her," said Sentoumaru scowling.

"Perhaps. We'll see what she has to say for herself when she awakens," Yamashi said. He then looked at the two guards behind him "You two take Roronoa Zoro into his cell."

"Yes sir!" they both said, saluting and then doing as they were told.

Yamashi pointed at the remaining guard. "And you please carry Reiko into her chamber so that she can have some rest."

"Right."

As Reiko was taken into her room Kizaru and Sentoumaru went to leave.

"Thank you for taking my place and bringing her back."

Kizaru paused a moment before he left. "If you can't keep your pet in line, I'll come back and do it for you. She's a wild one and must be controlled understand," warned Kizaru, referring to Reiko.

"Of course. I won't let it happen again."

Kizaru swiftly turned on his heels and walked out. Yamashi sat back at his desk and sighed. He was definitely going to have some serious words with her when she awoke.

x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x

**So there you have it! Chapter six! Sorry it took longer than expected to get up. Sigh with ****HW and stuff I never get things done when I want to. Oh well. I hope you liked this chapter a lot and review it more than you did chapter 5. (Only one review **** ) And yes I know Sentoumaru and Kizaru were definitely OOC in this chapter but they don't really show up anymore so I guess its ok. Please tell me what you think about this chapter and what you think I totally messed up on. Did you like the way Reiko was incorporated and the story changed? Do you hate it? Are you anxious to see what happens next? Just so you know at the end of the next chapter we will be half way done with this fic! :D So I hope you like it and tell me any ideas you have for Reiko Zoro fics. Or just fics you would like to see me write or something: D Please review! And I will love you all R&R! **


	7. Prisoners

**Happy Holidays Everybody! So here is chapter seven, no more of that copying from the anime! Yay so all original stuff now! I hope you enjoy it and keep reading my fanfic. **** Also I hope I get more reviews here because I haven't gotten that many. Also as a XMAS gift to all my beloved readers I will put up the 1****st**** chapter of my Naruto Fanfiction on XMAS EVE! You'll have to wait till then hehe. **** It's called Confined in Me so go look for it it **** and plz review! Even if it's just a Happy Holidays or Merry Xmas **

Chapter 7: Prisoners

Zoro came back to consciousness slowly as many voices swam around him. He was on the floor, well most of him anyway. His feet were being held up by the ankles in a strong, firm grip. He focused on keeping his body still and his breathing calm, so his captors would believe he was still unconscious, and he tried to listen in on the conversation through his muddled hearing.

"She's quite the trickster that Reiko," said a voice Zoro didn't recognize. _Reiko, damn her!_ thought Zoro angrily. It was her fault he was here now. She had betrayed the entire crew; played them all for fools. And he was going to make sure she didn't get away with it.

"Yeah, maybe it would be in our best interests to lock her up as well. I'm not sure we can trust her," said a familiar voice. Zoro recognized it; remembering the axe man that had appeared with the Pacifista. He was the one with the grip around his ankles.

"Perhaps. We'll see what she has to say for herself once she awakens," said the unknown voice again. Zoro didn't quite understand what the man meant. Was Reiko unconscious? Suddenly he was being pulled away by two different hands. These weren't as large or as rough.

"Take Roronoa to the prison cells."

Zoro scowled as he was he was dragged down the halls. He carefully opened his eyes, hoping that the men taking him weren't watching. He saw the backs of two rookie marines slightly above him. They were the ones dragging him. He tensed his muscles in his stomach and shoulders as he prepared to lift himself and attack the marines. But as he tried to get up, pain wracked his entire body. He had forgotten how bad he had been hurt, because he hadn't been moving before. He clenched his teeth as every muscle in his body screamed in pain. He groaned quietly as he prepared to move again. This time he mustered enough strength to pull his legs from the grasp of the marines and get up to his hands and knees.

"He's awake!" said one of the shocked marines.

Zoro pressed a hand against his burning chest. He coughed and gagged on the blood in his mouth before spitting it out. He felt moisture on his hand and bowed his head to look at it. He had reopened the wound Admiral Kizaru had given him just upon his arrival. His palm was covered in a thin layer of blood. He was so dazed that he didn't hear nor notice the marine guards approaching him. They pushed him to the ground and help his hands up to his back, making him cough up more blood. They brought him up to his feet, holding him by the shoulders and keeping his arms behind his back. He grunted as he was pushed into his cell. Because of his weakened state he toppled over when he was thrown in. he laid there for a second before sitting up, leaning on the back wall. He crossed his arms over his chest and closed his eyes, focusing his thoughts on escaping.

x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x

Yamashi watched as Reiko slept comfortably on her bed; thinking. Plotting his mind wandered back to what Sentoumaru had told him.

"_She let the rest of the crew go. She said it would be more beneficial to just bring Roronoa in and have the rest of them come to us."_

Yamashi frowned. He knew Reiko better than the girl knew herself. It was unlike her to be concerned about how trouble the marines had to go through to get their targets. And even more unlike her to show any form of mercy to a pirate. _They were the ones to bring up the war between the two werewolf clans,_ Yamashi thought with a chuckle. This also hadn't been her first infiltration mission. Something had changed this time. He had suspected it ever since she had poisoned Ankoro after he had hurt the swordsman. _That's it!_ he thought as something clicked in his mind. _The swordsman. There's something about this one that's caught her eye. She's not thinking reasonably. Every questionable thing she has done up to this point has revolved around the swordsman. _

Yamashi was so caught up in his discovery he didn't hear Reiko wake up and sit up, glaring at him. She gave him a few seconds before saying, "What are you doing in here?"

"Hm? Ah, Reiko my dear, you're awake. How are you feeling?"

"Answer the question."

"Really Reiko, is that anyway to speak to your captain?" he asked smoothly.

Reiko rolled her eyes irritated. "I'm not in the mood for your games Yamashi."

"Are you ever?"

"No. Now answer the question."

"Of course. I was watching over you while you rested. You took quite a beating."

"I heal fast, you know that."

"Oh yes, that you do. I still marvel at the gift of your kind." Reiko glared at him suspiciously; talking to her like she was his pet was not appealing at all. "One night and you're almost as good as new. Though you probably have a nasty scar on your back."

Reiko looked at the hole in her shirt on her back. She was surprised to see that she did indeed have a large burn scar on her back from Kizaru's blast. Her body was still stiff and sore. Her injuries where gone but she was still feeling the effects. And Yamashi knew this. He knew everything about her. Yamashi smirked and stood, prepared to 'ruffle her fur' once more. He headed towards the door.

"Well now that you're up, I'm going to go check on our newest prisoner," he said over his shoulder. Reiko's blood chilled as she remembered Zoro was here as well. She bit her lip; _maybe it wasn't such a good idea to bring him with us….._ she thought a bit tensely. She didn't want to face him, because that would mean facing what she had done. But she knew if she didn't go, Yamashi could spew out whatever lies he wanted and ruin everything for her. But if she did go Yamashi would figure out how she felt for the Strawhats and Zoro. The one thing he didn't know. Reiko sighed.

Yamashi began to count down in his head as he neared the door and began to leave. _Five… four… three… two… one…._

"Wait," said Reiko. He did. "I'll go with you."

Yamashi smirked and looked back. "I thought you might say that," he said and then walked out.

Reiko sighed angrily and rolled her eyes. _Bastard, _she thought and followed him out. When she caught up to him she saw that he was wearing a new hat. This one was purple with a strange shell stuck on the front of it, just on top of the rim of the hat.

"Nice hat," she said.

Yamashi raised an eyebrow and looked at her. "You like it?"

"It's not bad; but I've seen better."

"Ah yes. My other hat has always been your favorite," said Yamashi referring to the large white feathered one he had worn when he attacked the Strawhats. "I do remember it being yours to begin with. I'm still not entirely sure why you gave it to me if you liked it so much."

"I've already told you why! It was a gift for taking me in."

"Ah yes, so then why did you take it back?"

"Well you caught me off guard and pissed me off a bit. It was just a little pay back."

"Ah I see. And where is that beloved hat now?"

"I guess it's still on the Strawhat ship. I must have left it there…"

"And how do you intend on getting it back exactly? Especially after what you just did."

"Like I told Kizaru, the Strawhats will come here for Zoro."

"And for you as well," Yamashi interrupted.

"Uh… yeah I guess," she said, beginning to get suspicious.

Yamashi smirked and looked away. "Sentoumaru told me about how you 'convinced' him and Kizaru to let the Strawhats escape," he said pretending, very obviously, as if he hadn't noticed the suspicion in her voice.

Reiko swallowed hard as sweat formed on her temple. She knew Sentoumaru hadn't approved of her idea. And now that Yamashi knew she was in big trouble.

"They could have easily apprehended them. And Kizaru isn't one to show mercy to pirates. I wonder what exactly you said to change his mind."

_So do I,_ thought Reiko._ It's not like Kizaru to let pirates get away like that. I'm glad he just fell for my sap story about wanting to finish it on my own turf. I guess pride really is everything to men._

"Who cares what it was? All I know is that I did you a favor," she said.

Yamashi looked at her confused. "Explain," he demanded.

"Think about it. If Kizaru and Sentoumaru would have taken down the Strawhats then nothing major would have happened for you. Sure I would get some recognition and all but that's it. Now imagine that Kizaru lets them get away. They get scolded and then the infamous Strawhats show up at your door and you take them down, with my help of course, and get all the glory! Then you could even get promoted, besides the huge bounties on most of their heads."

"Ah you are quite right. But you aren't a saint. What would be in it for you?"

Reiko looked away smirking. "Oh nothing much. A bit of recognition here, some nice rewards there, oh and maybe a few more solo jobs," she said coyly.

Yamashi laughed. "I knew you would ask for something like that. Still attempting to find that precious stone of yours."

"Yes. I'm going to find it no matter what."

"For that you would need to find the One Piece, no easy task."

"Pirates are convinced they can do it. So can I."

"You know it might not even be there."

"Yes, but it's the only clue I've got."

"Right….. Well I suppose all of your actions now in my favor can make up your horrible attitude towards me on the ship earlier."

"Hm?"

"You know what I'm talking about. When I showed up with the fleet and you came into my office. You were being very rude you know. I'm not quite sure how to take it."

"Oh… that…. Sorry. I was out of place and I wasn't thinking straight."

"Obviously not. Let's just hope it doesn't happen again. I would hate to have to punish you."

"Yeah…" Reiko said as they turned the corner, and entered the jail cell corridor.

"Ah here we are."

Reiko slowly followed behind as Yamashi approached Zoro's cell. He was sitting cross-legged with his back against the wall, head hanged and arms across his blood stained shirt.

"Roronoa Zoro. What a pleasure to have you here," said Yamashi, calmly.

Zoro looked up, a scowl plastered on his face. He looked from Yamashi to Reiko and the scowl deepened. He glared at her for a few seconds and she broke his gaze by looking away. Then he took looked back down.

Yamashi noted the quick interaction. "It seems he's held a grudge against you my dear."

"Seems so," said Reiko blandly.

"Strange how a pirate would be so angry about treachery," commented Yamashi.

"Pirates are all traitorous and horrid. He's not mad about that. He's just pissed that I was able to trick him so easily and now he's stuck here because of it," she said, knowing it was all lies.

Yamashi laughed and Zoro growled at the both of them. They were mocking him and his Nakama, and they were going to pay. Yamashi's laugh died into a cold chuckle and he turned to face Reiko.

He looked down to his watch and said, "It seems like I will need to tend to some important business soon. Unfortunately enough I won't be able to stay and enjoy the show. I assume you'll be able to take care of things here."

"Of course," she said emotionless.

"Very well. I expect a full repot when you're complete," he said, before turning on his heel and walking away.

Reiko stood motionless and continued to stare blankly, for she was listening to Yamashi's footsteps. Zoro watched her, slightly confused at her new persona. She was acting so differently than she had before with them. On the ship she had been energetic, full of excitement and happiness. But now she was emotionless and cold. He wondered how she could have fooled them all so well. How she could have shown such true emotions to him and the rest of the crew on the ship if in reality she didn't know what emotion was. It's true, he had been suspicious of her at the beginning, and he had been right to, but in the short time she had been with them she had, dare he say, become their Nakama. But now she was acting as if none of that had ever happened, as if the events meant nothing. But how could they be nothing but false memories? She had saved his life hadn't she? She risked her own life for the rest of them, shown him her weakness and her vulnerability. And not a day later she betrayed them all. He didn't understand. He watched her trying to figure out what had gone wrong. Where she had changed into this cold being.

Suddenly her ear twitched, making the golden hoop earring jingle. She knew Yamashi was out of her hearing range, and she let out a sigh and her body's straight and tall form drooped down in exhaustion. She closed her eyes; it was just her and Zoro now.

"I'm truly sorry," she muttered.

x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x

The Thousand Sunny quickly came into view as Luffy, Robin and Chopper approached the ship. They had spent the night in the woods to rest. At one point Luffy had gotten so hungry he almost ate Chopper. Strangely enough, Robin noted, that had been the only normal thing Luffy had done. Well normal for Luffy anyway. He had been very quiet and very, very serious during their whole trip. She wasn't even sure if he had slept at all. He was probably very concerned about Reiko and Zoro. He was their captain after all, and letting them get taken away like that must have been torture to the young pirate.

They soon walked onto the ship and saw that everyone else had already arrived. The entire crew noticed Luffy was out of his normal character and tension was created on the ship. Nami walked up to Luffy.

"Luffy what are we going to do now?" she asked.

He looked at her and blinked a bit confused. "What do you mean? We're going to get Zoro and Reiko back of course. You remember where she said she'd be right?"

Most everyone flinched when Luffy said they were going for Reiko as well.

"Luffy…. She's a marine. She's our enemy. Do you really think we can trust her?" asked Usopp.

"Of course we can. She's our Nakama! What's wrong with you guys?"

"What's wrong with us?" demanded Nami. "What's wrong with you? She's a marine! She can't be our Nakama!"

"She said she was a pirate!"

"She was lying!"

"How do you know? She could have been lying about being a marine!" Luffy asked sternly, getting very irritated that no one trusted Reiko after she'd obviously risked her life to save Zoro.

His question stopped them. They all looked at each other. Maybe he was right. Maybe she was just undercover so they could escape the real marines and get some rest before coming to save them.

"It doesn't make any sense. But then when does anything we do ever make sense?" Nami said, sighing and giving into her captain's orders.

Luffy smiled and giggled happily. "So we're heading to the marine base on… uh…."

"Sonic Island," said Nami.

"RIGHT! Sonic Island!"

"Yeah!" agreed the crew.

They all went to their posts and began to set sail for their new, quest.

Usopp looked at Chopper and whispered, "How come it's always the women on this ship that cause us trouble? I mean first it was Nami who stole the Going Merry and was actually part of Arlong's Crew. Then Robin gave herself to the world military so we had to go save her. And now Reiko's pretending to be a marine!"

"Well it's not just the women. You fought Luffy over the Going Merry and left the crew too."

"UH….. Yeah but….. That was all a secret tactic so that when I went to go help save Robin they wouldn't know I was Sogeking!"

"What! You're Sogeking!"

Usopp looked at Chopper disbelievingly. Then he thought quickly. "What? No! I was just kidding! Hahahahah!" he said trying to cover up.

"Oooh. Ok," Chopper said smiling and went back to his post. So did Usopp.

x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x

"What?" asked Zoro, very confused.

"I'm sorry….. For everything. For tricking you guys, for making everyone believe that I could have actually been part of your crew."

Zoro looked up at his capturer even more confused. She had done it again. She had turned back into the girl who had stowed away on the Thousand Sunny. But this time he wasn't going to fall for it. He knew who she really was now.

"Funny, because I never considered you a part of our crew," he said. It was partially the truth. He hadn't considered her Nakama until the last moment and right afterwards she had gone and blown it all to hell anyway.

He wasn't expecting the reaction he got from Reiko. He could see his words had hurt her, and he realized that maybe when she had said "for making everyone believe that I could have actually been part of your crew," she had included herself in the mix. He began to regret every saying that to her, but he forced himself to brush away those emotions. She was his enemy and he couldn't feel for her. Though she was making it dammed hard for him.

"Zoro, you don't understand…." she said, trying to explain herself but not entirely sure how.

"What is there to understand? You tricked us into trusting you and led us right into a trap!" he yelled, angry that she was trying to make it look like she was still on his side.

"I had no choice!" she yelled back.

He remained silent, watching her intently.

"It was my assignment to capture you. To bring you in. I'm a marine and you're a pirate! It's the natural order of things. Why are you so angry about this?"

He looked away. He was angry at her, and the fact that she didn't understand why made him even more frustrated. He didn't want to tell her why, though. He didn't want to say that he had trusted her.

"Most marines don't try their hardest to get all the members of a pirate crew to trust them and then betray them."

"I'm not like most marines," she said looking away.

"No, you're worse," Zoro spat. She didn't answer. "Why did you want our trust so bad?"

"You know why. I needed to lead you into the trap."

"You didn't need everyone's trust for that. With just Luffy on your side it would have worked."

"How do you know I didn't have his trust to begin with?"

"He's the one who asked you to join the crew. He wouldn't have done it if he didn't trust you."

Reiko remained silent.

Zoro sighed. "Why did you try to shard to get **my **trust?" he said.

Reiko bit her lip. She quickly checked to make sure no one was around to hear her next whispered words.

"Because, I wanted to be part of your crew."

"What?"

She sighed. "At first it was all about capturing you. I wasn't planning on think of you as Nakama. It's just that when I got into the crew everyone was so nice and treated me like family, as if we had been friends all our lives. Well everyone except you. And at that point I thought maybe we could be friends. We could be Nakama. So I wanted you to trust me, to be my friend. It almost happened too. I let myself believe I was one of you, and when Yamashi's fleet attacked us, fighting against them felt so good. And then you got hurt and I got angry that Ankoro would dare hurt my Nakama. Everything was so right and perfect, I even told you about my past, more than I've ever told anyone, except Yamashi. But then I realized what you really were. No matter how kind and sweet you all were to me, no matter how amazing, you were still pirates."

"So?" asked Zoro angry. He couldn't believe that was her reason for betraying them.

"So? So you're pirates and I'm a marine. Don't you get it?"

"What I don't get is why you betrayed us! You said it yourself; you liked us better than your own captain and crew, so why betray us? You could have stayed with us!"

"No, I couldn't. It wasn't Yamashi or any of that that made me leave. I hate pirates Zoro, more than anything else in the world. They ruined my life and the lives of my family. And because of that even if I tried to stay with you, something inside me would always want you dead."

"What! Just because some random pirates screwed you over, you have to kill the rest of us? That's crazy!"

"What choice do I have Zoro! I don't exactly know who the pirates that enslaved my people were! Only of them escaped the massacre and he could be any damn pirate on the seas!"

"But you know it wasn't us. So why turn us in?" he asked again.

"Because it was my assignment to get you. I couldn't just come so close to capture and then return empty handed expected to be welcomed back with open arms! I need to be here, to be a marine so I can hunt down that pirate bastard and get my stone back! I can't do that with you. Not if you keep getting hunted down and stopped. People want you dead, and I can't risk dying before I bring back my stone and find that monster!"

"How do you know you haven't already found him?"

"I interrogate every captive pirate here, and I can smell a lie."

"You aren't the only marine base in the world. He could have already been caught."

"Maybe, but no one has reported discovering my stone so it most likely hasn't been found. And I have to keep looking! That's my only clue."

"Isn't it at the One Piece?"

"Part of it is, but he's got the other half."

"Why do you want it so bad? What did he do to make you hate him so much?"

Reiko looked down, not wanting the memories that were surfacing.

"He ruined my life. Isn't that enough for you?"

Zoro just snorted and closed his eye, tired of listening to her whining.

"You don't think that's a good reason? Why do you have to beat Mihawk? Why does Luffy have to become the Pirate King? Why does anyone have to do anything? It's all so stupid and it doesn't make any sense but we still do it."

Zoro looked at her very confused. She wasn't making any sense to him. She just sounded crazy.

Reiko noticed the look. "UGH! You don't understand. You never will…"

Zoro scowled. He was going to argue with her but someone else interrupted him.

"Understand what, cupcake?"

Reiko rolled her eyes as Zoro looked to the side to see who it was. He quickly recognized the face. It was Ankoro, the man who had gutted him earlier. Zoro and Reiko scowled in unison.

"Nothing Ankoro, you wouldn't understand either. And how many threats do you need to quit calling me that?"

"As many as you'd like to give sweetheart. Anyway, Yamashi sent me down here to help you get information out of this guy."

"I don't need your help."

"Yeah obviously you're doing a fantastic job getting him to talk when you're the one blabbing," he said laughing.

"Shut-up."

"By the way, I never did thank you for the nice taste of poison you gave me back there after I beat up your poor boyfriend."

Reiko fumed at him, sending him deadly glares, her shadow prepared to attack. "Quit complaining. You're all better now aren't you?"

"Just because I'm all fixed up doesn't mean I didn't get my fair share of pain first. Mind explaining yourself?"

"Not to you."

"Fine. Let's get back to business then. Did you get anything out of this guy?"

"Nothing I didn't already know."

"Fine leave all the hard work to me," he said rolling his eyes.

"Do you really think you can break him?"

"Do you really think I can't?" countered Ankoro. She scowled at him. "What's wrong with you? You know I can handle these punks," he said getting frustrated at her.

She began to walk away. "Nothing! Do what you want." He smirked. "Just don't kill him. That pleasure is mine and mine alone. And if there's anything about my stones…"

"Yeah, yeah, I know, send it back to you," Ankoro cut off before opening the door to Zoro's cell and swiftly stepping in shutting it.

_Stones? I thought it was just one. What's going on here?_ Zoro thought suspiciously. He watched Reiko walked away angrily, oblivious to Ankoro. That was until he brought his attention to him.

"Well Roronoa, let's get started, don't you think?"

Zoro glared as Ankoro got closer. He still couldn't quite move, since his injuries were still severe and his muscles very sore. Ankoro chuckled to himself as he imagined the wonderful torture he was going to dish out on the pirate.

x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x

Reiko stormed up the stairs. She couldn't stand any of them. Everything and everyone was against her. Yamashi was driving her crazy, doing everything possible to screw her over. _Damn you Ankoro, damn you Yamashi, damn you all! You're going to ruin everything!_ She thought frustrated.

In a matter of minutes she had reached the door to Yamashi's office. She could easily smell hi cheep cologne and knew he was in there. She paused, calmed herself and knocked on the door.

"Come in," Yamashi called.

Reiko did so, shutting the door behind her. She saw Zoro's swords leaning on the wall behind Yamashi's desk, but she calmly made it look as if she was looking around the room. Then she looked at Yamashi.

"What is it you need Reiko?"

"Why did you send Ankoro down to torture Zoro?"

"He is the best at getting information, besides you that is."

"Besides me is the point! I can handle Zoro on my own. I don't need that idiot bothering me."

"I'm not quite sure that you could. Roronoa is different from others."

"So?"

"I know well enough that you're not willing to harm him, more so than you already have," Yamashi said calmly.

Reiko scowled at him and said, "You don't trust me?" she finally asked.

"OH I trust you my dear. It's that darned pirate I don't trust. I don't want him convincing you to help him escape."

"I'm not that stupid."

"No but other things might tempt you. He's a fairly strapping young man."

Reiko blushed deeply and looked away so Yamashi wouldn't see. But she knew he had, which meant he knew her feelings for him, or at least half of them.

"I'm going to my room to get some rest!" she quickly stated as she began towards the door.

"Rest? You were asleep for over twelve hours last night."

"That was for my body to heal. My mind needs rest too, plus as you already said before, I'm still not in tip top shape. I've still got that nasty scar on my back."

"I'm not so sure that one is going to go away. It scared you deeply, even through you're thick hide," Yamashi said solemnly.

Reiko stopped. She couldn't imagine having that scar forever, or any scar. She guessed it was fair enough punishment. It would always remind her of the day she betrayed the Strawhats and it would remind her of Zoro, once he was dead.

"Reiko my dear, are you alright?" asked Yamashi noticing her paralyzed state.

"Yeah fine. I'm going now," she said opening the door.

Suddenly she heard a pain wracked cry coming from the prisons. She recognized the voice to be Zoro's and a chill ran down her spine. Her tail bristled and she couldn't make herself move. Yamashi noticed this too.

"Is something the matter?"

"No….. Everything is fine. I'll be in my room if you need me," she said before walking out and shutting the door.

As she remembered Zoro's agonized scream it took all of her will power and more to not run downstairs and kill Ankoro. _What is wrong with me? I can't let him get to me like this. Not if I want to keep my life anyway,_ she thought before forcing herself to her room and tried to forget about Roronoa Zoro.

x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x

**There you have it **** I'm not exactly sure when chapter 8 will be coming out, but I have like half of it already written on paper so it should be sometime in January, probably near the end since that's right after midterms for me and I'll have more time :D hehe. So yeah I hope you enjoyed it, plz review oh and the Naruto fic, as I said earlier, will be out on XMAS EVE so yeah. Review plz XD oh and in your review give me any ideas you have for any fic you would want me to write (note I am already doing a Naruto and DBZ fic) or what ideas you have for a Wolverine and The X-men fan fiction. :D hehe thanks guys**


	8. Unwanted Past

**OK so because people asked me to get this chapter up soon, this is going to be this month's chapter. I'll try to get Naruto up soon but I'm not sure if I'll be able to get up this month. Next month is Naruto and possibly some One Piece. Once I finish this Fanfic then DBZ will come out. **** So yea, at least one chapter every month okay :D I hope you enjoy this. IF you really want the next chapter up plz tell me and I'll see what I can do to get it up for you. **** R&R Also just so you know if there are quotation marks that start Reiko's speech and at the end of the paragraph they don't close but then new ones start at the beginning of the next paragraph it just means Reiko is still talking but I separated the speech into dif paragraphs for dif ideas. Ex: Reiko says **

"**I always wanted to be the most amazing werewolf in all the world… and yada yada yada.**

** "And I will always be with Zoro **** yay! Well don't forget to review the fanfic! If you don't I'll hunt you down!"**

**And that is Reiko talking the whole time **

Chapter 8: Unwanted Past

Ankoro couldn't help but laugh as he looked down to the beaten body of the Pirate Swordsman. _This guy sure can take a beating. But I haven't gotten anything out of him. He won't even talk. I barely even get any good screams. I guess I'm going to have to take it to the next level,_ Ankoro thought a bit excited. His bloody diamond fist went back to his normal skin.

"Well you should be proud of yourself Roronoa. I haven't had to use this method of torture in a while. Usually a couple of diamond fists in the gut get people talking fast," he said chuckling.

Zoro looked up slowly, glaring at Ankoro with his one good eye. Ankoro had hit Zoro's left eye, leaving it swollen and closed. Blood dripped down from the top of his forehead and down to his torn shirt and bloody chest.

"Boy do you look like crap. Alright I'm going to give you another chance here. You're going to tell me all about your stinking crew. Devil fruit powers, special abilities, strengths, weaknesses, all of it. Got that?"

"Go… go to …. *cough* hell," Zoro managed to mutter out, before spitting blood at Ankoro's feet.

Ankoro frowned.

"Fine, have it your way."

He then shifted his hand into a steel fist, spikes protruding from his knuckles. He stepped over to the small fire he had made and put his fist in it, until the metal became white hot.

"Alright Roronoa let's see how much of this you can take."

Zoro's eye widened as he saw the fist coming over. He tried to move away, but couldn't since his wrists were chained to the wall, and his ankles to the floor.

Ankoro swiftly jabbed the fist into Zoro's sore stomach. He clenched his teeth as a groan crept up his throat.

"Now you're going to tell me all about that little crew of yours or I swear this won't be fun at all," Ankoro whispered in Zoro's ear.

Zoro shut his eyes and began to lightly chuckle.

"I'll die before I betray my crew," he told Ankoro.

"You're choice buddy."

Ankoro extended the protrusions through Zoro's stomach and Zoro let out a pained roar. Once the metal had cooled and Zoro was no longer screaming in pain Ankoro pulled back his fist and let Zoro dangle, as his legs gave in and his cuffed arms above his head were all that was keeping him up. Blood poured from his new wounds and pooled at his feet.

Then Ankoro noticed the wound in the center of Zoro's chest. He made his hand more spear like and dipped it in the fire. Then he slowly came up to Zoro and put the tip of his spear into the wound.

Zoro hissed and tried to pull away, but Ankoro pressed further. He pushed until new blood spurted out and Zoro yelped. He could tell that Ankoro was having a sadistic pleasure in this.

"I'm sorry, does this hurt?" Ankoro asked, playing with Zoro, hoping to spur some anger.

It worked.

Zoro lunged forward and head butted Ankoro breaking the marine's nose, but making the spear traverse him completely.

"Damn it! That hurt you bastard!" Ankoro yelled before plunging the metal spike deeper through the wound.

The howl of pain the exploded from Zoro's mouth could be heard all throughout the base. The hot metal burned his insides, and almost cauterized the wound, so there would just a be hole in Zoro's chest. Fortunately Ankoro pulled out the spike and walked away, whipping the blood off of his hand.

Zoro hanged and panted heavily. He couldn't feel any part of his body. Every inch of him was in a numbed pain. He couldn't even think straight. He just wanted to sleep, go back to his comforting dreams and thoughts. But his pride wouldn't let him fall to the soft clutches of unconsciousness. It forced him awake, and as he looked up at the smirking Ankoro a new fire fueled him.

"Is that all you've got….?" he muttered.

This angered Ankoro.

"What was that? You runt! I'll kill you for making fun of me!"

He turned his whole arm into a diamond spear and ran at Zoro, intending to drive the spear through his heart. But suddenly a black wall emerged from the ground in his way. His momentum kept him going and the spear hit the wall. The wall was flexible enough to let the spear go forward without actually breaking it, but it stopped centimeters before it could hit Zoro and wouldn't let Ankoro push forward.

Ankoro turned his head to see Reiko standing outside of the cage with her arms crossed and a frustrated look plastered on her face. Her tail was swishing angrily as well. He turned his hand back to normal and Reiko took down her shadow.

"What the hell was that Ankoro?" Reiko demanded opening the door to the cell.

"What do you think? I was going to kill that bastard."

"Yeah I heard. Now what exactly did I say before?"

Ankoro looked away and refused to answer.

"Exactly. I told you not to kill him. So now that you've done enough I'm going to make sure he's still alive," she said, noting that Zoro had passed out.

"Do you want me to help?"

"No. Go deal with some other prisoner. I've got it from here."

"Fine. But be careful, this guy's a tough one," Ankoro said before starting to leave.

"Don't worry I can handle him."

Once Ankoro was gone Reiko took off the cuffs and as Zoro slumped and fell to the floor she quickly grabbed him. She let him down easy and began checking his wounds._ This looks bad. That injury Kizaru gave you is reopened. Plus the three holes in your gut, and all the bruising and probably broken bones. That coupled with your injuries from Thriller Bark have got to be killing you._ She looked at his face to see how much pain he was in, but he seemed pretty peaceful. _I don't understand you. But I better get you all fixed up. You're no good to me dead. _

She morphed into a werewolf form, to be able to carry him better, and slung him over her shoulder as she carried him to the medical bay.

x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x

Ankoro stormed into Yamashi's office frustrated. Yamashi had been expecting him. When he burst through the doors Yamashi didn't even look up.

"What is it you want Ankoro?"

"It's Reiko!"

"What about her?"

"She's not acting normal. She keeps protecting that damn pirate! She's even healing him now!"

"Healing? Hm you should probably check up on her. I don't want her alone with him for too long. At least not now. Not until we know how she truly feels about him."

"Why does it have to be me?"

"Because you're one of the few people who can make sure the Roronoa doesn't escape. Reiko might not try to stop him if he does recover enough to attempt to escape. And I don't want him fooling her into thinking that they are allies. Now go."

"Fine. But if he does try anything funny do I have permission to kill him?"

"Absolutely."

Ankoro smirked and left the office confidently.

x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x

Luffy groaned loudly as he lay on top of the Thousand Sunny. He turned so he was now lying on his back and looked up at the bright blue sky. The clouds slowly whisked by making him even more bored. He groaned once more before sitting up quickly and jumping onto the deck. He looked around hoping that there was something to do. Usopp and Chopper were napping, Sanji was cooking dinner. Franky was down under doing repairs. Brook was also asleep after playing a beautiful melody. Nami was checking her maps for Sonic Island and Robin was reading. Luffy slumped to the ground and let out an eerie grown.

"I'm sooooo bored! There's got to be something I can do. If Reiko was here we could play something. Or scare Usopp and Chopper," he sighed as he remembered his missing Nakama. A pang of guilt hit him with the feeling of helplessness for not being able to save his Nakama.

But those feelings were swept away by the growling of his stomach. He instantly shot up as he knew he needed to get food into himself and fast. He ran to the kitchen and stormed in on Sanji's cooking.

"Hiya Sanji. Is the food almost ready?"

"Yeah yeah. Hold your horses. It'll be done in half an hour."

"HALF AN HOUR! I can't wait that long! I need food now Sanji!"

"Well eat some cheese or something. Dinner won't be ready for a little longer."

"Fine…. Where's the cheese?"

Sanji sighed and rolled his eyes.

"You'd think you'd know seeing as you love food so much."

"Yup! So where is it Sanji?"

"On the counters over there," Sanji said pointing with his foot. "I was going to use it for dinner but decided against it. You can have it."

"YAY! Thanks Sanji!"

"Yeah yeah now get out of here. I need to finish in peace."

"Okay," Luffy said with a mouth full of cheese. He walked outside once more and headed for the lion head.

The scent of food from the open door of the kitchen woke up Usopp and Chopper. They looked up only to find Luffy's mouth full with food. Angrily the stood up and charged at Luffy.

"What the hell Luffy! Are you sooo selfish you couldn't even wake us up for dinner!" Usopp yelled angrily.

"Hmm?" Luffy muttered with mouth full of cheese.

"No fair Luffy…" complained Chopper.

"What are you guys talking about? It's not dinner time yet," said Luffy as cheese crumbs feel out of his mouth with every word.

"So what are you eating?"

"Cheese!" Luffy said smiling and exposing the half munched cheese in his mouth.

"DISGUTING Luffy! Shut your mouth!" Usopp said hitting Luffy on the top of the head.

"Ouch! You're the one who wanted to see what I was eating!"

"I did not! I just wanted to know what it was!"

"Exactly! So why'd you hit me?"

"You're making no sense Luffy!"

"You make no sense! You're so dumb Usopp."

"What was that?"

"You're dumb!"

"Whatever Luffy. Now hand over some of that cheese."

"NO WAY! Its mine! Sanji gave it to me!"

"What? That's not fair! You have to share it!"

"I do not! I'm the captain and I do what I want!"

"Gimmy that cheese Luffy!" Usopp said lunging at him.

"NO!" Luffy yelled back stretching his arms, which held what was left of his cheese, away from Usopp. He then ran away. Usopp chased him around and chopper followed giggling.

x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x

Ankoro slowly walked down to the medical bay, and was surprised to see Reiko standing outside of it watching over Zoro. He slowly walked up to her and stood quietly beside her. He paused for a moment observing her. She looked concerned, angry, frustrated, and a bit anxious.

"You alright?"

"Huh?" she said turning to him. "Oh Ankoro. I didn't hear you come down."

"That's strange. You're usually the first to notice."

"Yeah, I've just got a lot on my mind."

"Right. Are you sure you're okay."

"Yeah. Don't worry about it."

"Oh I don't. But Yamashi does."

"Right well tell him not to worry about it. I'm fine."

"Whatever you say cupcake," he said waiting for the angry insult or comment to follow.

It never came. That's when he knew something was wrong. She just kept staring at Zoro.

"If you're so damn worried about his health why don't you just heal him up? You werewolves have that weirdo healing blood right?"

"Yeah, but I can't."

"Why? Yamashi won't let you?"

"No it's not that. It's just I can't heal anyone twice. I've already healed him thanks to you."

"What are you talking about?"

"That huge injury you gave him when I was on their ship. I had to heal him or he would die. So now I can't heal him anymore."

"Well remind me not to let you heal me unless it's dire."

"I can't heal you anymore either."

"What? You've never healed me before."

"Maybe not directly, but the only cure for a werewolf's venom is that same werewolf's blood. Meaning that the only way you're alive right now is if Yamashi gave you the cure to my poison which is my blood."

"Really? I didn't know that about you."

"There's a lot about me you don't know."

"But Yamashi sure knows a lot. It's like he knows everything there is to know about you."

_Not like… he does know everything. Sometimes I find it strange but he's a smart guy. Unlike Ankoro. Though, it was him that asked me for samples of my blood, even before I told him about its healing powers or about the poison. In fact I don't think I've ever told him that my blood is the only thing that cures my poison. How did he know? I guess it must have been a last resort since he didn't know what could cure the poison, he just assumed my blood could,_ Reiko thought.

"Well couldn't you try to heal him?"

"No."

"Why not? Have you ever tried to heal someone twice? Maybe it does work."

"If I were to heal you or him again, my blood would kill you instantly. When I give my blood it doesn't just go into the bloodstream, it goes into every cell surrounding the wound. If I have already healed you then my blood attacks the cells and destroys them. Zoro has so many wounds that it would just kill him. And if you don't have any wounds it goes to your heart and destroys the cells there. So I'm definitely not healing you guys. Make sure Yamashi doesn't try and give you another dose of my blood, not even if you're poisoned by me. You have a better chance of surviving the poison than my blood."

Ankoro gulped and a drop of sweat slid down his face.

"But it's fine. I don't really need to heal Zoro anyway. He's tough, and the doctor has already patched up most of his wounds. Thankfully he didn't have any broken bones, so we won't have to worry about that."

"Right. Well by the looks of it he's waking up."

"Yeah. I'm going to go in there and talk to him I don't need you here. Go take a break or something.

"No can do. Yamashi wants me watching this guy at all times. He doesn't trust him."

"Tell him I've got it. Or does he not trust me."

"Not when you're around him."

"Fine. You can stay, but don't come in with me. Just stay out here."

"Whatever. But if anything goes wrong I'm going in there."

"What could he possibly do?" she said before walking in, and while Ankoro wasn't watching, she pushed the sound proof button on the inside of the infirmary so Ankoro wouldn't hear them.

She walked closer to Zoro as he opened his un-bandaged eye.

"How do you feel?" she said, coming into his field of vision.

"Fine," he lied

"Don't lie. Our doctors are good but there's no possible way you're 'fine' after a beating like that."

"If you care so much why'd you let him torture me?"

"I– I don't care!"

Zoro snorted and said, "Right. I forgot. You're only pretending to care. Why keep up the act? I already know what you're really like."

She just bit her lip and looked away. _Why is this so difficult? Why is talking to you and trying to help you so hard?_

"Why are you even in here?"

"I just came in to check on you. And see how you're holding up."

"I already told you I'm fine," he said trying to sit up a bit.

"Just lay down. No matter what you say, there's no possible way for you to be well enough to move yet. So just relax here."

Reluctantly Zoro did what she said, only because his body throbbed in pain whenever he tried to move. His mind began to wander again, and he remembered something Reiko had said before. A quick idea popped into his head.

"Why are you after that pirate guy you were talking about before?"

"What?"

"Why are you after him?"

"I already told you, he ruined my life and I'm not about to let him get away with it."

"Yeah, yeah. But what does that have to do with a rock?"

"You mean the stones I'm looking for?"

"Stones? I thought there was only one."

"Well, it's actually two. He's only got one but…. Well… I might as well tell you everything from the beginning," she said sighing.

She grabbed a chair, pulled it over and sat next to him.

"You might as well get comfy this is a long story."

She took a moment to gather her thoughts and began.

"Okay so let me start from the beginning. Remember how I told you I was a werewolf from the Silverfang tribe on Lunar Island?"

"Yeah."

"Well that was a lie too. I am from Lunar Island but I don't belong to the Silverfang tribe. I'm from the Bloodclaw tribe. It's the other tribe on the island, and let's just say, they don't get along too well. The Silverfang tribe is more domestic and tame. I guess you my tribe is wilder and more dangerous, but it doesn't matter. Either way we're pretty different.

"When I was a child a whole bunch of pirates invaded our island. They came through the half of the island that belonged to my tribe. They outnumbered us and they had much more firepower. Pretty soon they overtook us and started enslaving our people as soon as they realized we were werewolves. We didn't know why we were being taken but we were so it was very dangerous to show yourself. So, right before they were taken, my parents sent me to go hide in the Silverfang tribe. I had to cross almost half the island to get there but even when I got there, there was a distinct problem. First a few pirates followed me back there, and second Bloodclaw werewolves and Silverfang werewolves look different from one another. The Bloodclaw have red-brown fur and hair, like me, while the Silverfang have grey-silver hair and fur. So when the pirates followed me they saw this new huge breed of werewolves. They were so astounded by it that they completely forgot about me and I was able to hide there. But they revealed it all to their captain. Fortunately he decided not to enslave the Silverfang, but he did separate us from the rest of the island. He put up barriers so that we couldn't get to the rest of the island and help out our brethren. So I was stuck with the Silverfang tribe and away from my parents for three years. That's why I didn't fit in. I was a Bloodclaw, sure people pitied me at first since I was the last one, but they still didn't like me much.

"At the end of those three years we found out that pirates were keeping the werewolves in cages and they were conducting some sort of experiments on them. Here's the thing if, you keep a werewolf in a cage, the beast gets angry. Everyone has this uncontrollable rage inside us, but for werewolves it's even more than that. If we get really and truly angry; for example you attack someone we care about or keep us caged up, our primal instincts take over. We pretty much loose all control over our bodies and minds. Depending on how deep you go in, it could be like you pass out and then wake up after the rage has passed, or it's like you're watching from the backseat in your mind while your body just moves and kills on its own. The longer you're out of control the harder it is to come back. So when the pirates caged up all of my tribe they all went into the berserker rage after a while. It was such a constant rage that it would have been practically impossible for them to go back to normal.

"I'm guessing that the pirates wanted to harness that rage and power, because in that form we become ten times stronger than usual. The only problem is that, that rage cannot be controlled. It cannot be harnessed.

"A few weeks after we discovered what was actually going on in the pirate base, the werewolves that were being held captive, as in my entire tribe, started to escape. Soon there was a mass massacre and the Bloodclaw werewolves attacked the entire pirate crew. They were all killed except the captain. He fled like a coward as soon as the massacre started and left his men to die."

"So what's the problem? Your people got rid of the pirates," Zoro interrupted.

"As I told you before, the longer you are in the rage the harder it is to come out of it. If you spend a whole day in complete rage, it's almost impossible to come back because it takes every ounce of your willpower to do. My tribe was enslaved and tortured for three years!" she said angrily.

Her eyes were shut tight and her teeth were clenched painfully. At this point the depth of what happened actually sunk into both of them. Zoro could see the burning tear in her eyes as she opened them up and stared at the floor. She tried to hold them back but she couldn't do anything about it, as they slowly slid down her face.

"My entire family and all of the people I knew were taken from be and turned into monsters. And Silverfang tribe did nothing! Nothing at all, to help them! To help me… when they all escaped they were trapped in a bloodthirsty haze. Not only did they hate the pirates for what they had done, but they also hated the rest of us who hadn't gone through the torture. And they were right to hate them! I hated them too. I became so angry and full of rage that I lost myself too," she said shamefully.

"I went into an uncontrollable rage and escaped back to my tribe. But even thought I was one of them and we hated the same people with the same passion, they still hated me. I wasn't welcomed home like I had thought and when I made it back to my parents, I was so happy to see them alive that I came out of my rage. My love for them put me in the rage and it pulled me out of it as well. I had been out of control for two day and when I came out of it I felt sick, horrid, disgusted, and ashamed of myself. But my parents were still berserk."

She bit her lip before continuing.

"They,… they attacked me. They probably didn't even recognize me. In that form we're nothing more than animals, wild animals. After they attacked me I ran away. I spent a week out in the wilderness, confused, depressed, scared. I didn't know what to do. Eventually I remembered what my parents said to me before they got taken. They said I had to protect the Silverfang tribe. Back then it was from the pirates, but now it was to protect them from becoming monsters like my clan had. So I went back and told everyone what happened to my clan. Instead of feeling sorry for them like I thought they would, they said my people were savages and it was their own fault. It became forbidden to go into Bloodclaw territory. They would invade and attack us periodically so we had to set up a defense against them. I continued to visit their territory anyway, so I could watch over them. I was adopted by one of the Silverfang families and I had to go through all the same things as any other cub would in the village. I pretty much grew up there since the invasion was when I was just a kid. But I still didn't belong because I was different in every way possible. When I told you that werewolves don't like adventure, I was only talking about the Silverfang tribe. And the family I kept shaming was the Silverfang one that adopted me. But I didn't really care if I shamed them because they only took me in out of pity and force. Either way when I came of age I had to do the Rites of Passage like I told you before. And I did do the first one, and while I was out there I found the Devil Fruit in the Bloodclaw lands like I said. I knew it must have belonged to the pirates that had invaded before but I was hungry and I ate it anyway. I got my shadow powers and you pretty much know the rest of the story. When I was eventually kicked off the island I swore to my real parents that I would return and bring them back to their old selves.

"See before I was kicked off the island I did a little investigating on the Sacred Stones of my island."

"Stones?" Zoro asked, wondering why the word was plural.

"Yes. There are two. One is the Silverstone which belongs to the Silverfang tribe and the other is the Bloodstone for my tribe. The legend I told you about on my ship was the wrong one. In reality Gol D. Roger came to my island and helped out both clans from chaos and destruction. Whatever he did, apparently it was enough for the Silverfang tribe to be grateful enough to give him the Silverstone."

"I still don't get why this rock is so important."

Reiko sighed.

"Ok, werewolves have two different types of blood. In the humanoid form the blood is red like normal blood. But in the werewolf from its silver, and it has the healing powers. So the first two werewolves that ever existed, Lirus and Foras, created these two stones out of their blood. Then Foras became the father of the Bloodclaw tribe and Lirus the founder of the Silverfang tribe. The stones were made to be able to control the berserker rage. So it binds the power of the werewolves if the rage has gone on for too long. But the werewolves have to be touching the stone for it to have effect. The Silverfang tribe has always been more calm and collected so they've rarely had to use it. Also each stone only works with its tribe."

"So why do you want the Silverstone so bad?"

"Well I'm actually looking for the Bloodstone as well. The pirate captain that escaped stole it. But even if I did have it and I took it home, it's such an epidemic that I would need to unite the power of both stones to bind the powers of all the werewolves on the island. So the only way to do this is to bring back both stones. That means I have to find that pirate guy. He's got my stone and I know he can lead me to the Silverstone since he's probably looking for it too. So even if it isn't in the One Piece I'll be able to find it," Reiko finished.

"Well that was a nice story," Zoro said sarcastically.

"Well excuse me for answering your dumb questions!" Reiko snapped back.

Zoro lightly chuckled.

"Well I've just got one more question for ya."

"Lay it on me."

"Why the hell are you still keeping me alive?" he said seriously.

"I need to make sure Luffy gets here."

"You don't need me alive for that. Now the truth. Why do you really want me alive?"

"I….."

"That, my friend is a question we would all like to hear the answer to," Yamashi said, now standing in the room with Ankoro.

x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x

**Well there you go! Chapter 8. Wow this story is getting far :D I'm soo proud lol. That wasn't the most amazing torture scene I've ever written but it was ok. The next chapter won't be up until February unless some miracle happens. And since exams are coming up next week Naruto might not come until the end of January or beginning of February. Also DBZ is headed your way before the summer as well as a Wolverine and the X-Men fanfic. So keep a heads up I promise to get all of these things to you before the summer time****. So yeah Naruto within the next few weeks and DBZ in the next couple of months :D don't forget to review and tell me what your thoughts are on this chapter. **** If you have any ideas on a fic you want me to write or something, or any ideas for fics that I'm in the process of writing or am going to begin to write please tell them to me in a review or just in a PM. Thanks to all who read this R&R**


	9. Almost Free

**I can't apologize enough for the horrible long wait; it's been over 5 months since my last update… I am sooo sorry! Ugh… Finishing High School and preparing for College just took soo much time. But as you can see I am getting back to updating. The latest X-Men chapters have come out, and you'll probably be getting another one before September is over. I will be working really hard to finish up this fan fiction, because I love it sooo much! Thank you to everyone who has stuck with the fic besides the long waits…. I really do hope you enjoy this chapter. **

Chapter 9: Almost Free

"…**Now the truth. Why do you really want me alive?"**

"**I….."**

"**That, my friend is a question we would all like to hear the answer to," Yamashi said, now standing in the room with Ankoro. **

Reiko turned around swiftly surprised to hear Yamashi's voice.

"Yamashi! What are you doing in here?" she asked.

"I came to see how our prisoner was doing. I wasn't aware that you'd be doing the same my dear."

_Damn… The only reason he would come down here to check up on Zoro is because he's already suspicious of me. He either came down here to interrogate Zoro himself, or he knew I was down here._

"Now I believe the swordsman asked you a question. It would be impolite to leave him wondering. Why do you really want him alive?"

_Shit…_

Her mind raced looking for an answer she could give without compromising herself. Then it hit her. The ends of her lips curled up into a sly smile and she narrowed her eyes slightly. She stood so her weight was shifted on one leg more than the other and crossed her arms over her chest, tail wagging mischievously.

"I thought it would be obvious Yamashi. The only reason I keep this filthy pirate alive at all is for entertainment."

Ankoro looked at her confused, and Yamashi frowned. Zoro just glared at her from behind.

"It's obvious that he isn't going to tell us anything about his crew that we don't already know. And I've spent enough time tracking them and studying them that I already know all of their weaknesses and abilities. So obviously we don't need him alive. But if he were dead then I would have absolutely nothing to do until Strawhat Luffy arrives. In fact the only reason I let Ankoro interrogate him first was because I was still tired from healing all night, but even so I watched him, and only stopped him when he was going to kill Zoro, before I had my turn with him."

"Ah. I see, so bringing him here is for what?"

"To make sure he's healthy enough to not die on me when it's my turn. Trust me the second he's no longer any fun I'll kill him, myself."

Zoro sat up angrily and said, "So what? My pain is some kind of a game for you?"

She turned around and grinned evilly. "Absolutely. Why else would I want you alive?"

Zoro began to bubble with anger and he pushed himself off of the bedlike table and was about to punch Reiko, but she stopped him by firmly placing a strong fist in his injured stomach. His jaw dropped and eyes widened, blood spurring out of his wound and mouth.

"Please Zoro. Did you ever think you were actually going to get out of here alive?"

He glared at her with one eye, the other shut in pain, as he held his stomach. Yamashi smirked. _That's the Reiko I know._

"Now, I'm going to get some food and fresh air. When he's a bit better, throw him back in the cage and I'll come down and have my fun. See you two later," said Reiko leaving.

Once she was gone Yamashi looked at Zoro and smiled wickedly. "Rest up Roronoa. As bad as Ankoro might have been, she is much worse. You'll need all the strength you can muster," he said, chuckling and turning away.

Ankoro followed him out.

"It seems like I shouldn't have been so concerned about Reiko," Yamashi said.

"What? You really believe her?"

"Not entirely. It is obvious that she has some sort of feelings for the swordsman, besides hatred. Perhaps pity? Either way it seems as though she is already going back to her old ways. As soon as Strawhat and his crew arrive we should have nothing to worry about. But just in case, warn Mizuki and Hakimi to keep an eye on her."

"Gotcha."

Then Ankoro left to find his companions and Yamashi headed back to his office to prepare for the Strawhats' arrival.

x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x

"Are we almost there?' Luffy complained to his navigator.

"Calm down Luffy. I already told you we won't get there until tomorrow morning."

"UGH! But what about Zoro and Reiko?"

"If they're still alive then they should be fine for a little while longer. It's almost night fall anyway, so just a few more hours. And we'll be there," scolded Nami

Luffy slumped down to the floor. He wanted to find his lost Nakama as quickly as possible. He could hardly wait for the upcoming battle. He didn't admit it to the rest of the crew, but he secretly hoped that Sentoumaru and the Admiral Kizaru would not be at the military base. He knew they couldn't defeat them at this point in time. But if they were there, Luffy would fight to the death to help his friends escape, that he was sure.

x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x

Ankoro stepped out to the outer quarters of the marine base. He was pleasantly surprised to see both Mizuki and Hakimi chatting together not far from the entrance. He rolled his shoulders and straightened up to look more like their commander rather than a casual teammate. Then he confidently strode towards them. Both marines saw Ankoro approach them and they inwardly winced at the smug grin he had on his face.

"Damn, that smirk means he's either got some pain-in-the-ass job for us or we're in trouble," said Mizuki.

"Yeah…. Either way we're both in for it," sighed Hakimi.

Ankoro got closer to them and stopped right beside the two men.

"What do you want Ankoro?" demanded Hakimi.

"Why so snappy guys? It's just me," he said, his smirk growing.

"Exactly. Now what do you want? Is it a mission or something?"

Ankoro laughed. "No! Nothing like that guys!"

"Then what?"

"Well here's the deal; Reiko has been actin a little… funny."

"Funny?" asked Mizuki, not convinced.

"Not like herself," Ankoro rephrased.

"So?"

"So Yamashi wants us to keep an eye on her until Strawhat and his crew arrive. But that sounds oh so boring. So I was thinking making sure she really is on our side, just to make our job easier"

Mizuki and Hakimi both looked at each other confused. Then they looked back at Ankoro.

"Explain," said Hakimi.

"Ok so basically Reiko seems to have this soft spot for the Strawhat Pirate we took in a few days ago."

"Who the swordsman?"

"Yeah Roronoa Zoro. So, a little while ago she told both me and Yamashi that she felt nothing for him. That the only reason she's kept him alive is to torture the poor sap. But I find that real hard to believe."

"Why? Sounds just like her. She hates pirates."

"Yeah but you didn't see the way she was looking at him before. I know hatred and that was not it."

"So what's your plan Ankoro?"

Ankoro grinned even wider than before. "Well since she says she wants to torture him, I say we do just that. See how she reacts."

"What? If she really does want to beat on the guy she'll still kill us fer takin her prey!"

"Yeah, but her reaction's gonna be different if she's mad that we took her fun rather than her being mad that we're beatin up on the guy she likes. Werewolf or not she's a girl which means she's gonna get all upset and emotional if we almost kill this guy."

Hakimi scowled. He didn't quite trust Ankoro, and didn't think it wise to mess with Reiko. Mizuki on the other hand was all aboard Ankoro's plan. A good beating always sounded good to him.

"Alright! Let's do it!"

"Good! Hakimi are you coming?"

"No. I'm not going to risk Reiko gutting me like a trout, just because you of all people don't trust her."

"Aww come on you big baby. Aren't you made of air? How is she supposed to gut you?"

"Look I'm not interested. The pirate is already headed to an execution anyway, there's no sense in torturing the poor sap," Hakimi said walking away and waving them off.

"Spoilsport…" muttered Mizuki.

"Ah, don't worry. We don't need him," Ankoro said, patting Mizuki on the back. "Now let's go get that pirate back in his cage."

"Yeah!"

They arrived at the medical room to find Zoro sleeping on the table. Ankoro nudged his head in Zoro's direction. Mizuki nodded and walked over to Zoro. Then he grabbed Zoro by the shoulders and tossed him on the floor, waking him up.

Zoro gasped, eyes opened in pain. All of his muscles felt sore. _What the hell?_ He looked up and saw Mizuki and Ankoro staring down at him. He scowled making Ankoro chuckle.

"Hey Zoro. Ready for round two?" he said grabbing him from the gruff of his bandages and pulling him off of the floor.

x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x

Reiko let out the breath she had been holding as she managed to sneak into her room unnoticed.

"That was a close one," she muttered.

Then she walked over to her bed and tossed the three blades she had taken from Yamashi's room onto it.

"Can't trust Zoro's swords to Yamashi. They'd be much safer here," she said rolling the small rug beside her bed, away. She sniffed, smirked and stomped on the end of one of the planks. It squeaked and the other end raised up exposing the empty space underneath the floorboards. _Even Yamashi doesn't know about this._

Then she grabbed the swords and placed them in the hole.

"There! Safe and sound!" she grinned. "Now they'll be safe until I figure out what I'm going to do."

She brought down the board and once again covered it with the rug. Then she sat on her bed.

"Now I just hope Yamashi doesn't notice for a while. He's not one to notice moved furniture but he's probably been keeping a close eye on the swords."

Then suddenly she heard a scream coming from the dungeon. _Ankoro? Why is he screaming? _Then she realized. _Oh no… Zoro!_

As quickly as she could she left her room locking the door, and ran down to the dungeons. She stopped at the turn of the hallway and peeked over to see who was in Zoro's cell. She wasn't surprised to see both Ankoro and Mizuki. Zoro was leaning against one of the walls and his left hand was curled up into a fist, ready for another attack. Mizuki was looking at the swordsman in shock and Ankoro was holding his bloody nose.

"Damn! I didn't know you were still able to move, especially not with those injuries," Ankoro muttered from behind his hand. He whipped off the blood on his face, and smirked. "Heh… good to see you still have some fight left in you."

"What are you two doing?" Reiko called from behind the bars. She had stepped closer to the cage and was now glaring at them.

"What's a look like? We're havin a little fun cupcake."

Her scowl deepened.

"What did I say about that stupid nickname?"

"Aww come on its all in good fun."

"Whatever." Then she looked at Zoro. He was panting and looked extremely exhausted.

"So what do you say Reiko? Wanna join us?"

"Hmm? Join you two? Don't make me laugh. When I get my turn with the guy I'll do it my way and alone. I don't need you two getting in my way."

"That's no fun."

"If you want me to torture the guy so bad, then you two could just walk out and watch me."

"What? No way!" said Mizuki, unwilling to end his enjoyment.

"Shut up," Ankoro muttered. Then he faced Reiko again. "Sure thing," he said grinning. Then he opened the door and got out, letting Mizuki come out as well.

_Damn. I wasn't expecting him to say yes. I'm really sorry about this Zoro. But it's the only way I can keep you alive. _She then stepped into the cell and shut the door behind her.

"What, now it's finally your turn?" asked Zoro angrily.

"Absolutely. You didn't expect me to leave you at Ankoro's tender mercies. Now let's get started."

Reiko kicked Zoro back into the wall. He groaned as he slid down. _God damn it, I could just barely fight back those two guys, but I'm already drained. _When he looked up at Reiko he saw that she had transformed into her more animalistic humanoid form. She still looked mainly human but her hair and fur was longer, eyes glowing yellow, nails like claws, teeth like fangs; just like she did the night before she had betrayed them. Fluttering memories of that night whispped back into his mind. He remembered feeling so comfortable next to her, beside her deadly appearance. He remembered how she'd shown him her vulnerabilities, and how he'd comforted her. _What happed to make you change so much…?_ He weekly thought. Then suddenly she grabbed him by the throat and pulled him upwards, grinning wildly.

"Now, now Zoro, don't want you passing out before we're done," she said squeezing a tiny bit on his throat, only to release just as quickly. Then with her free hand she extended her claws and quickly and sharply dug them into the ends of his shoulder, making him gasp in pain. She had pinched the skin with her claws ripping it at the end, making shallow cuts that were practically harmless, but extremely painful.

Zoro panted and Reiko smirked and did the same but on his other shoulder. This time he screamed. Reiko continued to smirk but Ankoro could see the slight diminish of her grin. _Usually when they scream I get so excited. The thrill of it all is wonderful but this time… it's different. Every time I hurt him I feel so horrible. But why? Why is this pirate so different from every other one I've encountered before? _She mentally sighed, and squeezed Zoro's throat harder. But suddenly a loud booming voice reverberated across the halls.

"Ankoro!" Yamashi's voice thundered.

"Damn… what does he want know?" Ankoro muttered.

_Shoot. He must have found out Zoro's swords are missing. That was sooner than expected but I guess I can't complain. Especially since he's calling Ankoro's name and not mine,_ Reiko thought.

Then she turned around and looked at Ankoro, still grinning. "You better go Ankoro. Don't want to keep the man waiting," she sneered.

"Whatever," he said before storming off.

Then Reiko looked at Mizuki. "You too pal. Yamashi would hate it if he found out you left your post without telling him just to screw around with my prisoner."

Mizuki gulped. "Y-yeah. You're right." Then he too left.

Once they were both gone Reiko sighed and dropped Zoro, though she didn't return back to her normal form. She couldn't if she had wanted to. The window just above Zoro's cell clearly let in all the moonlight necessary for her transformation to occur. She looked at it; almost full. Tomorrow would be the full moon. She couldn't say she quite liked the full moon. It was the one time every month where she came dangerously close to losing control over herself.

_Hell after what I'm about to attempt I don't know if I'll make it to the next full moon. _She looked down to Zoro.

"Hey Zoro… can you hear me?" she asked him shaking him lightly, making sure not to touch the cuts she had just made on his shoulders. He slightly opened his eyes and looked at her with a glazed stare. _Good enough._ "Look Zoro I'm going to make up for all of this. I'm going to go get your swords and get you out of here.

x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x

Zoro opened his eyes, slowly and slightly, but it was enough to see that someone was kneeling over him. A red-brown blur loomed over him and his mind pieced the fragments together. _Reiko? What is she doing? She looks… worried. Is she worried… about me?_

She was talking to him. But he couldn't understand her. Then suddenly she left. As her arms left his side, no longer supporting him, he collapsed down to the floor of his cell. His shoulders stung, and his chest and stomach felt extremely sore. He couldn't help the drowsiness that came over him as he lay on his side.

x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x

Reiko rushed to her room as quickly and quietly as she could, she was using her shadow as a cloak to cover herself. She reached the door to her room and quickly slipped in unnoticed. Without bothering to be silent she quickly pulled the carpet off of the floor and onto her bed. She stomped on the floor boards only to find that it didn't budge. _Damn not the right one,_ she thought, stomping on the ones beside it. None of them were working. She stopped herself, calming down a little bit. _Come on it's got to be here. Just relax and find it._ She sniffed the air and smirked she had found it. She could smell Zoro's scent on his swords under her floor boards. She stomped and the floor lifted, she saw the swords and crouched pulling them out. Then she grabbed a rope from the other side of her room, and tied the swords to her back. Then she left without trying to cover up what she had just done.

On her way down to Zoro's prison she kept thinking, _Please don't let me run into Yamashi; PLEASE don't let me run into Yamashi._ Down the many stairs and through the dark corridors she stormed hoping to make it to her fallen friend before Yamashi did. Fortunately enough for her she did.

Zoro was lying sprawled on the floor unconscious. It pained her to think that she was at fault for this. She was going to have to seriously apologize to Luffy after returning Zoro. She wasn't planning on returning to the Strawhats herself though. She didn't deserve to be welcomed back into that crew after what she had done, but Zoro and the rest of the crew didn't deserve to suffer any more, and she was going to make sure that they didn't.

She walked into Zoro's cell and gently picked him up. Shaking him slightly she tried to wake him up.

"Hey Zoro. You gotta wake up," she whispered. He didn't react. "Come on Zoro. You have to get up."

This time his eyes fluttered open and he looked at her. At first it seemed like he didn't recognize her, but soon his eyes seemed to focus a little bit and he looked directly at her; confusion crossing his face.

"R-Reiko?" he muttered.

"Yeah it's me," she answered.

"What are you doing here?" he said trying to move but finding it extremely painful, and just settling for letting out a groan and leaning on her.

She blushed when she felt him lean on her, but brushed the feelings away.

"I'm here to get you out. I'm going to get you back to your crew."

His eyes were shut, but he was conscious. He furrowed his brow in even more confusion.

"Why?" he asked gruffly.

She stopped for a moment and thought. "Because I was wrong about you. I thought all pirates were the same. But you aren't. You're different. You're good people. So I'm going to help you escape so you can be free with your crew."

Zoro still didn't quite understand. It must have been a side effect from his injuries and weakness so he just nodded and let Reiko support him. She slung one of his arms around her shoulders and letting the moonlight fuel her energy as she lifted him.

"Alright, let's get you outta here."

Holding him up as well as she could, she began to trek towards the exit. She made it out of the cell and onto the stairs without much trouble. But carrying him up the stairs was more difficult than she had expected. Zoro was unconscious again so he wasn't helping her at all.

"Oh come on Zoro… can't you just pick up your feet a little bit," she muttered under the strain, once she was half way to the top of the stairs.

"Even if he could, it wouldn't be much help, my dear," said a voice that sent chills down her spine, making her tail bristle.

She turned her head to face Yamashi.

"You aren't going to stop me Yamashi. I'm getting Zoro out of here."

"You say that as if you could."

"Hmm?" _Yamashi can't really think he can stop me on his own._ But then she looked in front of her and saw Ankoro standing there grinning. It made her smirk too. "With or without Ankoro, you aren't going to stop me," she told them, half morphing into her werewolf form. Her hands and legs where that of her werewolf form but the rest of her remained the same.

"Oh my dear, Ankoro is not here to fight you. He will only be cleaning up afterwards."

Reiko couldn't believe what he was saying. She turned back to him. "You can't be serious Yamashi. Do you really expect me to believe that you're planning on fighting me?" she said almost at the point of laughter.

"Do you really believe that you are any match for me?" Yamashi countered.

"Come on Yamashi. You don't have any special powers and I'm stronger and faster than you are, even without transforming."

Yamashi laughed. "Please, did you really think I have no power and yet I command this fleet?"

"Huh? What are you talking about? You have no power!"

"Don't be so ignorant," Yamashi said, snapping his fingers.

It took only an instant for the sound to reach her ears. Her ears twitched when it did, making her earring jingle. Her eyes widened and her body went numb. She dropped Zoro before going down to her knees herself, holding her ears and head in pain.

"Aghh! W-what….? What the hell did you do?" she managed to mutter out.

Yamashi laughed. "It's my power. I have the ability to control sound waves. Their frequency, their volume. What I just shot at you now, was a special frequency that only Werewolves can hear. I've been told it is very painful, which is why I only gave you a small taste. I don't want you to die my dear."

"What? Since when have you had this power?"

"For a long time, cupcake," Ankoro said. She slightly turned to look at him as he approached her. "How do you think he was able to take down all those werewolves on your little island?" he said, transforming into a type of stone she had never seen him turn into before. His skin turned blood red and on his left arm there was a yellow crescent moon carved into his stony skin.

Reiko's eyes widened. She couldn't believe it. He had just turned his skin into the blood stone from her island. Her bloodstone.

"Y-you…!" she gasped out.

Ankoro laughed and turned back to normal. "You betcha doll face. That was you're precious rock. Good to see you still remember what it looks like."

"But… but that means…"

"Indeed it does," said Yamashi. "It means I was the captain of the pirate crew who invaded your island. Ankoro was part of my crew at the time as well; you didn't know he had escaped too."

Reiko didn't know what to say. The man she had trusted, whom she believed to be her savior and even her comrade, was the one man on earth she hated more than anyone.

"I – I trusted you! You were my friend!"

"Indeed you did. But I always knew what you were. A werewolf. Which means you were nothing greater than a loyal pet to me. Now then, act like a good pet, and return Roronoa Zoro to his cell."

_A pet! He thinks I'm his pet!_

"What! No! Now that I know who you really are, there's no way I'm handing him over to a scum bag like you!" she said standing up and picking up Zoro as well. This time she transformed fully.

Yamashi couldn't help but laugh. "You still think you can get out of here! Really Reiko, that is foolish thinking. Besides, in this form my powers affect you even more!" he said snapping his fingers once more. But this time when the sound reached her ears, waves of agony shot through her entire body. She let out a roar as she dropped to her knees and tried to block out the sound with her hands. The sound painfully rang in her ears, making her muscles convulse. She doubled over, holding herself up from her elbows. She couldn't believe the unimaginable pain she was in. It was like nothing she'd ever felt before. The sound wasn't only affecting her hearing but her entire body, she was losing control. The last command she was able to give to her body was to turn back to her more human form to ease the pain.

Yamashi smirked at her unconscious form, sprawled on the ground. Then he looked at Ankoro. Who nodded and picked up both Reiko and Zoro. He followed Yamashi down to the prison cells.

x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x

When Zoro woke up, he felt tired, drowsy, sore, and just plain exhausted. He opened his eyes, and was surprised to find himself in a different and larger cell. _Hm… I wonder why they switched me. The last thing I remember is Reiko coming into my cell and saying some weird stuff about getting out… what happened? _He wondered.

He saw that he was chained by his wrists and ankles. He looked around to get to know his surroundings and was surprised to find Reiko sitting next to him unconscious, and chained as well. Her chains looked different than his, and he assumed they were made of seastone. She also had what looked like a silver collar around her neck.

"What's going on here?" he muttered to himself.

He nudged her with his hand to see if she was alright but she didn't respond. So he shook her again. This time she stirred.

"Hmm?" she mumbled, waking up and looking at Zoro confused. "Zoro? Where are we?" she asked looking around. Her head really hurt and she felt completely drained, no moonlight energy to help her out.

"We're in a different prison cell. What happened?" he asked her.

That's when her memories hit her. _Oh my god… Yamashi was the pirate who ruined my life. I can't believe I trusted him for all these years. No wonder he knew so much about me. He spent three years studying the rest of my clan! And he has my bloodstone! I have to get it from him!_

"Well what happened?" demanded Zoro when she didn't answer him.

She snapped out of her angry thoughts and looked at him.

"Well I was trying to help you escape…"

"Why?"

"I already told you. Because I realized that not all pirates are the same and you guys aren't to blame for what happened on my island. It's not right for me to keep you prisoner here when you've done nothing wrong."

"Fine. Then what happened."

"Well Yamashi stopped me."

"How the hell could he do that? I thought he didn't have any powers."

"So did I but I was wrong. He's got a power that can really affect me bad. He controls sound waves. It must be a devil fruit."

"Ok, so how do we get out of here?"

"I don't know. It's like I can't think straight, I'm so exhausted. I feel so weak."

"That's probably because of the chains," Zoro pointed out.

She looked at her wrists and saw the seastone chains and cuffs.

"Damn… well, it's not that big of a problem. These only really affect my shadow powers. I can still transform into a werewolf, and those bars aren't a problem," she said forcing herself to stand up. Her legs wobbled and a hand went to her head. She got dizzy and the room began to spin.

Zoro saw her about to fall and stood up just in time to catch her. He laid her down gently. That's when he noticed how pale she was, he also noticed that she had gone back to her natural, more human looking form.

"Are you alright?" he asked her when she opened her eyes.

"Uh… yeah. I'm okay. I just didn't expect moving to be that disorienting. Lemmy try again," she said sitting up.

She focused through the fog in her mind and reached for the rage that fueled her werewolf side. When she finally grasped it she began to transform. But a sudden burning around her neck stopped her mid transformation. She screamed as she reverted back to normal. Zoro had been shocked to see her skin begin to burn around the silver collar.

When Reiko was back to normal panting and sweating she brought a hand up to the collar around her neck and winced when she felt the burn on her fingertips. She hadn't noticed it when she woke up, but there had been a slight burning sensation since waking up in the cage. Now she knew just why.

_Damn you Yamashi. Putting this silver collar on me was a dirty trick. I can't do anything now in this form. And if I try and transform the burning is only going to get worse until it kills me. _

She suddenly looked at Zoro when she noticed he was watching her with a worried face.

"Don't worry, I'm fine."

"What was that?"

"That was the silver collar around my neck. I'm allergic to silver, just like every werewolf. It's extremely toxic to me and my kind, and the more transformed we are the more toxic it is. Just skin contact is unbearable, but having it in the blood is the worst. That's incurable."

"Then I guess you're stuck like that."

"Yeah."

"Just rest up for a bit. We'll figure out a way to get out of here."

"How?"

"When Luffy and the rest of the crew show up of course! Don't worry about it!"

She didn't know how he was so sure of himself. But it made her feel better and her confidence in Luffy's abilities grow.

"Okay," she said before leaning back against the wall and closing her eyes. They were going to make it out of there. That she was sure of.

x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x

**Well there you go chapter 9! I really hope you liked it, and once again I apologize for making you guys wait for such a long time. Thank you to all of you who are still following the story and I really appreciate it! Please review so I know there are still people out there who are enjoying my story. Thanks guys! Next X-Men! :D**


End file.
